Accel World: Return of the Red Hero
by Maverino
Summary: One year after the Ragnarok incident, peace seems to have been established all thanks to Lan and his friends. But it looks like he's not done fighting yet. A new foe threatens to reset the world to start a new one. Once again, Lan must awaken the Hero inside of him and defeat this new evil. But can he make it in time even with his power of acceleration?
1. Prologue

(This is the sequel to Accel World: Arrival of the Red Hero. So if you haven't read that yet, I would advise reading that first, although this story provides background information on the first story if you haven't read it. This version will include characters/events from the MMZX series since I ended the last one with the ending of the MMZ series.)

_Days after the crash of Ragnarok_

"How did you survive?" I asked Lan.

I found Lan in a hospital a few days after Ragnarok was destroyed and Weil was gone. Although the entire space station blew up along with Lan, he looked very healthy. Even with Zero's body armor helping him survive the explosion, he surely couldn't have survived the impact with Earth.

"To be honest, I thought I was going to die after crash landing. I could barely move my limbs!" he said. "After I struggled for a few moments, I equipped the Dark Elf believing it was the Disaster Armor and it healed me."

"That's it?" I asked, appalled.

"Yeah. After that, I just woke up here."

That was intriguing. He equipped the Dark Elf, yet he doesn't seem to be very different. Perhaps the Dark Elf only affected Zero, the entity that resided in Lan's Neuro Linker. But Zero was gone now, so that could be another reason why Lan appears to be healthy and normal. After the defeat of Weil, I programmed it so that the carriers of the Legendary Heroes will no longer be using them in the Brain Burst program, as well as the uninstallation of the Brain Burst program just in case the Heroes' souls were embedded into the souls of the carriers.

"Can I check your Neuro Linker? I want to make sure that everything's in order," I asked.

"Of course."

I pulled out a cable and connected the ends to our Neuro Linkers. If Kuroyukihime saw us right now, I was sure she would beat me to a pulp! She was in a different hospital right now, still recovering from the car crash weeks before the Ragnarok incident.

I opened a few windows and looked through Lan's Brain Burst folder, which still existed to my surprise. I looked for the modified file that I placed into there and couldn't find it, which was very strange. I modified the .dat files Vent and his friends had stored in their Neuro Linkers to ensure that they couldn't abuse the power of the Legendary Heroes. But Lan's Zero data is gone. Where could it have gone?

"Is something wrong?" Lan asked, concerned.

"Your Brain Burst folder is still here for some reason," I answered.

"Strange. Didn't you program it to uninstall after the defeat of Weil?"

"Yes. But you still have it. There's also a data file that was transferred here from Kuroyukihime's Neuro Linker when she gave you the Brain Burst program that's missing."

"Strange. Maybe it moved to another location?"

I began to look through the files that were in the Brain Burst program. After several minutes, I couldn't find anything unusual. The file no longer existed. Maybe it was erased along with Weil? Or maybe Zero merged his own consciousness with Lan's and that's why the .dat file isn't there anymore?

"Maybe it'll reappear. Wait a day or two," Lan suggested.

"Alright. I'll be back later, then."

"Yeah. It was good seeing you!" he said with a warm smile.

I smiled back and left his room. Kuroyukihime was certainly right about one thing that pertained to Lan; he had a smile that could light up your day and make you happy again. I couldn't help but think about what an amazing person he was. He was able to defeat Dr. Weil merged with the Ragnarok core and survive the crash, and remain happy while others around him felt down.

I followed his advice and came back to his room the next day.

"Are you his girlfriend?" one of the nurses asked me.

"U-Uhm, no. Not at all!" I nervously said.

Why was it so hard for to me say no? After all, I was comfortable around him and his actual girlfriend, Kuroyukihime.

"Hey Ciel. Welcome back," he said, smiling again.

"Hello. How are you feeling?" I asked.

"The same. I want to get out of here. I don't even know why I'm in here in the first place! There's nothing wrong with me."

"You might have internal injuries due to the fall. Just rest easy, alright? You'll get to see Kuroyukihime soon."

I cabled with him again and looked through his files once more and found the file I was looking for. But how did it reappear?

"Lan, did anything strange happen last night?" I asked.

"Hmm…" he thought. "I had a bad dream. It was the same one after I received my Brain Burst form Kuroyukihime."

"I see."

So Lan was reborn as the Red Hero again? I had to make sure myself.

"Burst Link!" I said.

I opened the matching list and looked for 'Red Hero', which should be easy since we were the only Burst Linkers in the hospital. However, the only name that showed up was 'Cobalt Warrior'. Either this was Lan's new duel avatar or there was another Burst Linker in the hospital's network. There was only one way to find out, so I pressed the name and challenged him or her to a duel.

The world burned away and was replaced by the End of the Century stage. The hospital turned into a malicious form and spikes grew on the walls and the windows were replaced with rusted bars. I transformed into my 'duel avatar' that resembled Zero. I looked at the duel avatar that was being formed in front of me and noticed the features of Zero: the long hair, the correct body proportions, and the helmet shape. Sure enough, that was Zero. But why was he named Cobalt Warrior?

I opened up his stats and saw that his W/L was nonexistent and that he was level one. Why was he reset back to square one?

After the white transformation sequence finished, the former Red Hero finally showed himself. Although, as his name implied, he was no longer the Red Hero. He was now the Blue Hero, the name for Vent's duel avatar, except that Lan's name was generated by the Brain Burst program rather than the data file itself. His base color was blue, but everything else stayed the same. His golden hair, his golden rings around his wrists and legs, and his pitch-black eyes.

"Lan?" I called out.

"Ciel? You were the one who challenged me?" he asked.

"I wanted to see for myself if you were still able to fight."

Lan took a look at himself and seemed shocked. It seems that he didn't expect to see himself as a Blue Hero, since he was so used to seeing himself as a red one.

"What happened to the Red Hero? Why am I the Cobalt Warrior now? And why do I look like Zero if my name is different?"

"I have a few guesses." I said, thinking as I spoke. "The creator of Brain Burst saw that you cheated the system and reset you completely, or Zero merged with you somehow and you've become a balanced version of him suitable for Brain Burst."

"Merged? His consciousness merged with mine?" he asked, surprised.

"It sounds weird, but it sounds like the only possibility. Have you tried speaking to him recently? Or has he spoken to you?"

"No…"

We sat in silence, pondering about the possibilities. I opened up a few windows on my HUD and opened up my modding kit for Brain Burst. I looked through Lan's status and analyzed him, hoping to find some clues. Nothing out of the ordinary popped up and he seemed like a completely normal Burst Linker. If he were someone like the late Omega, his status would be unstable and my analyzer would pick up the abnormalities. But Lan doesn't have anything wrong with him.

I walked over to him and touched his shoulder and to my surprise, I felt heat radiating from his body, just like before. He was truly the perfect cross between a man and a machine. I glanced at his eyes and stared deeply into his pitch-black eyes. What happened to Zero? I wanted to avoid giving anyone the power of the Legendary Heroes, no matter what kind of person they were. I couldn't trust anyone with that power.

"Hold on one moment," I said quietly.

"Hmm?"

"Fortitude Creed!" I commanded.

There was no response from Lan. He stared at me with a blank expression and tilted his head to the side, wondering if I was going crazy.

But before I could say anything else, my vision went black and I fell to the ground. I reappeared in Zero's resting place, where he often took me to speak with him. He was always restrained by those wires, armless and helpless. If I wanted to, I could destroy him when he was in that state. That's probably what he wanted me to do all this time to prevent the recent events from happening.

"Hello Ciel," he said calmly, opening his eyes.

"Zero…" I breathed.

"Why did you wake me? The world doesn't need me anymore. Let me rest in peace now in the mind of my successor."

"Lan… He's your successor?"

"Yes."

I walked over to where he rested and gently touched his hair. Although his hair always looked frail and disgusting in this state, it always felt comforting.

"What if the world needs you again?" I asked.

"I'll know. After all, I'm one with Lan."

"I see…" I murmured. I didn't want Lan to use him again.

"This is for the best."

"I know. I'll… I'll miss you," I choked out.

"Why would you miss someone like me?" he chuckled.

I couldn't respond. I moved closer and hugged his restrained and damaged body, bidding him one last farewell. He closed his eyes once more and I left his resting place.

Although I told Lan Dr. Weil created Zero and I had created X and the Four Guardians, this wasn't true. Dr. Weil created Omega to start his operation of ruling the world, so I stopped him by recreating the Legendary Hero X with his original data that I had found. It was a rather large data file for some strange reason, and I figured out why once Vent distributed his Brain Burst program to his friends. That single data file contained the Four Guardians' data files as well.

Returning to Zero, I also found his data file, but it was full of viruses. I sent him to Dr. Weil for him to analyze it for me before I knew he had planned to rule the world with Omega. I believed he was doing the same research as me, hoping to advance humanity further. But we all know how that turned out.

Dr. Weil probably removed the God of Destruction portion of Zero's data and moved it into Omega, creating the ultimate weapon. Zero came back to me clean, and I found that I was able to talk to him when I kept him in my Neuro Linker. I got to know him and eventually grew close to him. Until he went berserk with that Dark Elf inside of him. I was crushed when I learned that X and his friends killed Zero. Of course, I knew they had no choice. I think Zero wanted to be destroyed all along because of that God of Destruction that resided in his body.

But I continued to keep him alive. Zero, X, and the Four Guardians were as human as Lan and I. I couldn't bear to end their lives in any way.

I opened my eyes and found myself lying down on top of the rooftop of the hospital building in the End of the Century stage. I looked to my side and found Lan right next to me with his eyes closed and smiling. He looked like a calmer and laid-back version of Zero. I sat up, which caused him to open his eyes.

"Well? How did it go?" he asked.

"Zero's going to be sleeping until the world needs him again," I answered, holding back tears.

"Ahh. That'll be a while."

"Yeah."

We stayed right next to each other for a while in silence, staring up at the red sky. I guess until Zero woke up again, which would probably be never, I would have to put up with his successor. I wonder though, why did Zero choose him? I figure I'd find out in time. Until then, I'll have to continue to preserve the peace Lan's managed to establish.


	2. Chapter 1 - Disrupted Peace

_One Year Later_

I sat down at the usual spot at lunch and called Sachiko using my Neuro Linker. This was the usual routine ever since she graduated, to my bitter disappointment. Although she had more rigorous classes at high school, she dedicated some of her time to socialize with me _and _take notes during class, which was much more than I could do.

"I'm sorry Lan, I can't talk today," Sachiko said as she picked up.

"Oh, that's fine," I said, a little disappointed. "Don't worry about it."

She hung up and I ate my lunch, which was today's special: super spicy mabou tofu. I had a particular taste for spicy food, and mabou tofu was no exception. It had an extremely spicy taste, but a very good aftertaste that made me want more. The other third-years around me were astounded as to how I could handle such a spicy dish.

I met Kirigaya Sachiko, or Kuroyukihime, a little over two years ago. Back then, I was a self-conscious kid that didn't really talk to others. Kuroyukihime introduced herself to me after I had shown an amazing reaction speed in gym class. I honestly thought that she only liked me for my abilities. But as time went on, I grew to like her, and eventually, fall in love with her. Together, we faced her hardships and Dr. Weil, a person who threatened the existence of the real world and the Accelerated World. He built the massive space station of Ragnarok and was about to destroy all life on the planet but Nega Nebulous, with the help of the Four Guardians, X, and Ciel, was able to put a stop to his evil plan.

Saying it like that made it sound like an action-packed manga full of fighting and thrills. Strangely enough, that's what my life was then. After the Ragnarok incident, things returned to normal. Well, as normal as it could be for a person with Brain Burst. Even though the Accelerated World remained hectic, the real world did not. The damages that Ragnarok had caused would take some time to repair, but other than that, everything was the same as it always has been. There were no mysteries or problems to solve at all.

I finished my mabou tofu and set my platter aside. Although school was getting rigorous for those entrance exams, nothing really happened. There were no Burst Linkers that attended this school except for myself. Miyazuki, the late Olive Driver who wanted to go the school dance with Kuroyukihime last year, died during the Ragnarok incident. Blue Cloud, the supposedly 'new' Burst Linker from last year, disappeared this year. Perhaps he was a third year like Kuroyukihime. I'd never know since Kuroyukihime didn't know who he was either.

Before I could get up to go back to class, I received a call from Ciel, which happened very rarely. Something important must have happened.

"Ciel? What's up?" I answered.

"You need to listen very closely to what I have to say," she said quickly.

"Uhm, okay." I was slightly confused. What was up with her?

"You will receive a package. Do not lose it and keep it safe. I don't have time, I have to go now."

And just like that, the conversation ended just as it started. What was going on? I didn't hear any background noise coming from her end, indicating that she was safe as well. She wasn't gasping for air, so she wasn't running away from anyone. Yet, I sensed that she was in danger from something, but I had no clue what it could possibly be. It had to be something big for Ciel to call me like that.

I walked back to class, trying to clear my mind but failing terribly at it. Ciel was in danger and I needed to help her somehow. But I was powerless. I couldn't do anything but wait until I received that package.

* * *

After school, I ran home as fast as I could to avoid any contact with anyone I knew. I needed to get that package. It was on my mind for the entire school day, leaving me restless and anxious. I didn't even bother calling Kuroyukihime until after I had opened it.

I made it home in record time and found a brown box sitting in front of the doorstep. I grabbed it and rushed inside to open it with a boxcutter. I opened the small package carefully but quickly, hoping to find answers in its contents. The box was full of packing peanuts, so there was probably something fragile inside. I carefully reached in and searched for an object. I touched something hard and gripped my right hand around it. I pulled it out of the box and was surprised as to what I pulled out.

In my hand was a metallic object that resembled Zero's helmet, except that it was flat on the backside and curved outwards. The blue gem was replaced by a green piece of metal that was supposed to resemble the gem. This object also had two slits for eyes and a somewhat long white ridge running along the lower portion of the object. What this was exactly, I didn't know. If I had to guess, it had something to do with Zero.

I called Kuroyukihime immediately after examining the object, hoping she might have a clue. Then again, she might not, since Ciel rarely talked to any of us. She was busy doing things to keep the peace.

"Yes Lan? What is it?" Kuroyukihime answered.

"Something happened to Ciel. I don't know what, but she sent me something."

"This sounds interesting. Tell me what you know and come over to my place. I want to see what she gave you."

"Alright."

So I told her what Ciel told me, which wasn't much to begin with. Kuroyukihime stayed silent for a while, possibly thinking very hard on what had happened to Ciel.

"You could tell she was in a hurry, since she went straight to the point and even said herself that she didn't have much time. But I don't know what could have happened to have her panic like that," Kuroyukihime finally said.

"Maybe the object I have will have the answer to that," I replied.

"Now I'm really interested to see what she gave you."

After a few moments, I made it to where the Kirigaya's lived and entered. I found Sachiko sitting on the couch next to her sister, Yuuki, the former White King. I took that title away from her last year when she was about to finish off Sachiko after she had used the Physical Full Burst command to save me from a car. I defeated her as a level 9 Burst Linker back then, meaning that her Brain Burst uninstalled itself and she lost all of her memories that Brain Burst had a part of.

I sat down next to Sachiko and showed her the object that fit perfectly in my hand. She examined it carefully, looking at it from every angle. Like me, she didn't have any idea what this was.

"Did it come with any instructions?" she asked.

"I didn't go through the package thoroughly, but I'm sure it didn't come with anything," I replied. "I'll double-check when I get home."

She nodded and continued to examine the object in her hand. Since it resembled Zero, perhaps he was the answer to our questions? But he was asleep right now and I had no idea on how to wake him up.

Sachiko gave the object to Yuuki, who observed it as closely at her sister. Unfortunately, she didn't have a clue on what it could be either. None of us have ever seen anything like this before, especially Yuuki since she was just a normal person now.

"It doesn't look like it's switched on or anything. Maybe you have to activate it somehow?" Yuuki suggested.

"Sounds like a good idea," I commented, taking back the small object.

But how do I switch it on? I couldn't connect it with my Neuro Linker because there wasn't a place to insert a cable. It also didn't react when I spoke commands, which made this even more frustrating.

"I'm done trying to get this to work..." I said hopelessly.

"Keep trying later. Right now, we should try to find Ciel, or other people who know her," Sachiko said.

I nodded and glanced at Yuuki, wondering if it was okay for her to be so involved in this.

"I've already told her what happened to Ciel. Don't worry about it," Kuroyukihime said, answering my thoughts.

And so, the three of us split up to look for the missing Ciel. Kuroyukihime had something in mind and wanted to go check it out, Yuuki went to report a missing person to the authorities, and I went to the bookstore that Ciel and I would usually hang out. Well, we hardly saw each other but when we did, it was the bookstore that was the meeting spot.

After arriving at the bookstore, I asked the people who worked there and the regulars if they knew Ciel. After talking to several people without any luck, I was about to give up until I spotted the manager of the bookstore.

"Do you know who Ciel is?" I asked.

"Blonde hair, wears a lot of pink?" asked the manager.

"Yeah, that's her," I answered, hopeful.

"She comes around often, yeah. If my memory is correct, she was here last week."

"Really?! Tell me what she as doing!" I said, excited.

"Calm down there," the manager chuckled. "The only thing she did was talking to a friend of hers or something. That's about it.

"What did her friend look like?"

"Let's see..." the manager said, scratching his chin. "He was tall and muscular man with fair skin. He had violet eyes and hair, with a long spiked forelock. The most noticeable thing about his face was his squared chin and his cheekbones."

"Thanks. Anything else?"

"She left in a hurry and dropped this tablet."

He handed me a small tablet and I took a look at it. I scrolled through the information that was on the screen only to become more and more confused. This didn't explain where she was or where she had gone. Instead, it was information about something called a _Biometal _and something called _Model W_.

"Can I keep this?" I asked.

"As long as you return it to its rightful owner."

"Of course!"

The manager agreed and I left in a hurry back to the Kirigaya's. I wasn't gone very long, so Kuroyukihime and her sister weren't back yet. So I sat down on the couch I was previously sitting on a few moments ago and looked through the information in the tablet very carefully. Although most of it was quite confusing, I learned about what Ciel was working on for the past few months.

A Biometal is a substance that stores the data of a human or machine. The 'data' could be the person's personality or battle data. The Biometal uses the R.O.C.K. (Rebirth Of Crystallized Knowledge) System and can R.O.C.K. ON with a "Chosen One", or its Biomatch. And then it goes into detail about how the Biometal becomes the Biomatch's living armor and weaponry and such.

Although I knew all of this information was important, I didn't see how I fit into things. After all, the object I was given was probably a Biometal, but I wasn't its Biomatch since it didn't speak to me.

I scrolled through the pages some more and found information on Model W, a Biometal made from the soul of Dr. Weil, which sounded really crazy and ridiculous. Why would anyone want to preserve the soul of Dr. Weil? You'd have to be crazier than Dr. Weil to do that!

Ciel created six Biometals to combat Model W. She didn't say who she gave them all to, but she did say that they were given to the right people that had the potential of destroying Model W. The Biometals she created carried the replicated data of the Legendary Heroes, and that the people she gave them to had the original data of the Legendary Heroes.

Before I could continue reading, the front door opened and Kuroyukihime and Yuuki entered the house, glum and disappointed. It seemed like they didn't have any luck on Ciel's whereabouts.

"So? How did it go?" I asked them.

"My guess was wrong. And apparently, the authorities have never heard of a person named Ciel," Kuroyukihime answered while slumping down onto the couch.

"That's too bad. The good news is, I found something," I said, holding up the tablet.

"What's on there?"

I explained to Yuuki and Sachiko about what a Biometal was and the existence of Model W.

"Model W contains the soul of Dr. Weil? Isn't that a bit... outrageous?" Sachiko remarked.

"It does when a normal person says it. But when Ciel says it, it's completely different," I replied.

"That's true, but is that even possible?"

"If building a giant space station to destroy the world is possible, then having a human soul in an object is possible."

After saying that, the three of us examined the tablet even further. I showed them where I found the information on the Biometals and Model W. After looking through more files, we found that Ciel destroyed her lab to ensure that the blueprints of the Biometals wouldn't fall into the wrong hands.

Even though the three of us read what the tablet contained in its entirety, there were still no leads as to where Ciel could be. We only knew more about Biometals after reading all of this information, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but it didn't help us in our cause.

"The manager of the bookstore said that Ciel was talking to a friend or something last week," I said, remembering the event.

"What did this friend look like?" Sachiko asked.

"Tall and muscular with fair skin, purple hair and eyes, squared chin and cheekbones."

Yuuki and Sachiko thought to themselves, wondering if they've ever seen such a figure.

"Don't know him," they both said at the same time.

I sighed. Looks like we were still stuck at square one. I decided to leave for the day and study for school. Sachiko and I hugged goodbye and I left for home with the tablet and the Biometal in my hands.

I got home before sunset and hurried into my room. Although I said I would study, I decided that I wanted to unlock this Biometal, even if I wasn't its Biomatch, although there was a chance that I was since I had the original data for Zero. I checked the package that it came in and dumped the entire thing out. I was disappointed to see nothing but packaging peanuts come out. I then focused my attention back to the Biometal and tablet.

I spent most of the evening looking for clues in the information that was given to me. I studied the Biometal intently, taking note of every little detail. Unfortunately as the night went on, I had no success in unlocking its mystery. So I gave up and worked on schoolwork. I stayed up until eleven at night working on my neglected schoolwork.

Before I fell asleep, I gripped the Biometal tightly in my right hand, making sure that it was on me the entire night. This was something I couldn't afford to lose.

* * *

I sat down behind a pillar to take a break from running from my pursuers. Although I was infused with the power of the Biometal, I still couldn't take on these two foes. They called each other Prometheus and Pandora, yet I had no idea who created them. I know for sure that they themselves were infused with a Biometal as well, but what kind? If I had to guess, it was probably Model W, but how was it that there were more than one?

The pillar behind me exploded and crumbled into dust from a fireball. I pulled out my beam saber and sent a sonicboom their way. I ran in the opposite direction as fast as I could again. No matter what, these two were going to chase me down and kill me. They didn't seem to tire at all. They were actually having _fun _while chasing me around. What kind of monsters were these?

"Nobody is going to come to save you, Miss Ciel. You might as well just lie down and die now," Prometheus snickered.

"Never!" I cried. Zero would have never given up in this situation!

"Your resistance is futile," Pandora said in that monotone voice of hers.

I looked behind me and saw eel-like electric shockwaves coming in my direction. I jumped to the side to avoid them, but they were too fast and stunned me for a few seconds, making me fall to the ground.

I knew the way around my destroyed lab like the back of my hand, but it seems that Prometheus and Pandora were pretty good at navigating through foreign areas. In fact, so good that someone could have sent them a map of my lab and they could have been spying on me...

"Well, well, looks like our little scientist has finally fallen," Prometheus jeered.

I tried to get back up, but his scythe flew down and struck me in the back, causing me to fall to the floor. My back felt like it was on fire!

"Our purpose is to judge who the best Mega Man is. Thanks to you, we have a nice pool of participants. It's all going according to HIS plans," Prometheus whispered into my ear.

"Their purpose isn't... to fight each other... it's to destroy... Model W," I painfully choked out.

"That's too bad because according to HIM, they're all going to fight each other."

"Who is.. this he?" I asked.

"You won't live long enough to find out!"

_Am I going to die here? _I wondered as Prometheus pulled his scythe out of my back.

"Burst... Link!" I gasped.

[Database]

[Ciel - A young scientist who helped Lan against Dr. Weil during the Ragnarok incident. She's striving towards making a better, peaceful world.]

[Lan - A middle school boy who had his life changed when he met Kuroyukihime. Formerly known as the Red Hero in the Accelerated World. Unknown Hero that saved the Earth.]

[Kuroyukihime - Her real name is Kirigaya Sachiko **(A/N: 99% non-canon real name)**. Her life changed when she met Lan. She's known as the Black King in the Accelerated World. She and Lan are lovers.]


	3. Chapter 2 - An Untimely Death

Right as I was about to fall asleep, I accelerated. Although this has happened to me multiple times in the past, due to the fact that I forget to disconnect from the Global Net before going to bed, I still wasn't used to accelerating before falling asleep.

_I wonder who it could be this time... _I wondered to myself as I went through the transformation sequence.

As the white light disappeared, I found myself in the _Twilight _stage. In front of me was a wide open field of grass that went on for miles. This was the first stage I ever stepped onto, as well as the stage where Kuroyukihime as Black Lotus taught me the basics of Brain Burst.

My opponent appeared in front of me after a second or two of waiting. I recognized the shape of the duel avatar, perhaps it was someone I've fought before? They had a slim body, a helmet that resembled Zero's, three angled bangs of hair, a skirt that resembled a flower...

"C-Ciel?!" I cried.

She didn't answer with any words, instead she pulled out her version of the Z-Saber and dashed towards me. Did she really want to fight? Or was this some sort of trick?

I responded to her action by blocking her attack with my own Z-Saber. I slashed her saber away and kicked her in the chest, knocking her backwards. I was the Cobalt Warrior/Blue Hero, which meant that I specialized in close quarters combat in the Accelerated World. Ciel's duel avatar was a reddish pink, which means that she should be excelling at long range. But like me when I was the Red Hero, she broke the rules of this world with her duel avatar.

"What are you doing?" I asked her.

Once again, she threw herself at me. Being an expert at fighting with a saber, I dodged and blocked all of her strikes that came from all sides. I had underestimated her battle potential. But because I've been in combat longer than her, I have the upper hand in this fight.

I parried her next blow and executed a triple slash. I landed all three hits on her and she was sent backwards. I dashed after her and used Shoeunga, a rising slash that usually carried my opponent with me. The only time it wouldn't was if they were heavier than me, which was really easy to accomplish in the Accelerated World.

Instead of stabbing her to the ground like I usually would with any other opponent, I let her fall and I caught her in my arms.

"Are you done?" I asked once more.

Ciel looked at me with her sky blue eyes and began to cry, which was quite unexpected. By now my mind was consumed with so much confusion.

"Calm down, Ciel. Explain to me what's going on," I said as I put her down softly onto the grass.

"I-I'm sorry f-for crying all of a-a sudden..." she sobbed.

I sat down next to her and waited for her to calm down. I patted her head gently, hoping that it would help comfort her. After a few minutes, Ciel had managed to sit up straight and look at me without crying.

"Well? What's up?" I asked with a smile.

Ciel sighed before answering, "I have very bad news."

"I figured as much."

"There's a high possibility that after this, I'll be killed. I needed to talk to you right away and then remembered at the very last moment that I had Brain Burst."

"That's something I didn't expect..." I said, shocked. I think I heard her correctly. She said she might be _killed _after she returned to reality?

"Sorry about that," she replied with a sad smile. "Anyway, I wanted to see if you had what it in you to fight one of your friends."

"Huh? Why?"

"Because that's something you might have to do after today."

"Explain."

"Today, I was being chased by two beings influenced by Model W. Their names are Prometheus and Pandora. Prometheus looks like a purple grim reaper while Pandora looks like a white witch. Be on the lookout for those two when you walk around Suginami."

I took a mental note of that and listened to Ciel as she continued talking.

"I don't know who they were created by, but it was probably by the same person who created Model W. In fact, I don't have any idea how many Model Ws that person's created."

"There's more than one?!" I cried.

"Yes. And you, as well as the others, need to destroy all of them. But Prometheus told me that this person, who he referred to as HE or HIM or HIS the entire time, planned to make all of the Chosen Ones fight each other. I have no clue as to why this person would do that, nor their intentions behind it. All I know is that you must not fight each other."

"Who did you send the Biometals to?"

"Vent, his friends, and you. You have Biometal Model Z."

"I see. But it doesn't work."

"It'll work when the time comes. Don't worry about it."

"Alright. So that's all?"

"Yeah. There are some things in my lab that you should come take a look at with your friends. I'll give you the address."

Ciel swiped her hand around in the air quickly, reminding me of Kuroyukihime. Then a notification popped up on my HUD, indicating that I had received an in-game message.

"Good luck," she said with a sad smile.

I stared blankly at Ciel after receiving the message. This was probably the last time I'll ever get to see her and hear her voice. After all, Prometheus and Pandora were about to kill her.

My body automatically moved forward and my arms flew around Ciel's fragile body. I couldn't stop the tears from coming out either. I knew I had to be strong at a time like this, but another one of my friends was going to die. I was just starting to know who Ciel was after the Ragnarok incident. Although she was busy with whatever she did for a living, she still made time to spend with the rest of Nega Nebulous.

"It's alright, Lan..." she whispered.

"No it's not! It's totally unfair!" I cried out.

Ciel tapped some more windows and a draw request window popped up on my HUD. If I accepted it, I will no longer see Ciel ever again. But if I wanted to, I could have the duel last for the entire thirty minutes, which was a little less than two seconds in real world time.

"I know what you're thinking," Ciel said gently, "and I know what you're feeling. But I'm ready. So let me go, Lan."

I let go of her slim body and took one last look at her. I stared at the draw request window for a long time before actually accepting it.

"Goodbye Ciel," I whispered.

She looked back at me in response and smiled sadly. A flash of white light enveloped both of us and the last thing I saw was Ciel's teary eyes.

* * *

I returned to reality as if nothing had happened. But somewhere out there, a certain someone in their own lab was about to be murdered in cold blood. I stared at the ceiling while in bed for a very long time. The only thing that was in my mind was the horrific death of a friend.

The Hero who had saved the Earth from a giant space station couldn't even save his own friend. Was I even that Hero? Or was it just me in the body of Zero, the real Hero? The thoughts of me doubting myself began to cloud my mind like disrupting a lake full of sediment.

I opened my Brain Burst application and looked through my messages. I copied Ciel's address down and got out of bed and put clothes on. I was going to go help her right now. In the back of my mind, I knew she was already dead, but I kept thinking she was still alive.

The lab wasn't too far away from my house. It would probably take fifteen minutes to get there if I ran the entire way. I clutched the Biometal in my hand and ran out of the house at full speed.

_Damn! If I was the Red Hero, I could probably make it there in five minutes! Maybe even in one minute! _I angrily thought to myself.

What was I doing at eleven o'clock at night, running towards a dead person's place? I had school tomorrow, a promise to keep, and a Biometal to unlock. Yet even with those rational thoughts in my mind, I stuck to the irrational thoughts that overtook my heart.

_ Ciel was still alive. Yes, Prometheus and Pandora are just going to torture her. I have time. _

I kept running forward, even when my heart felt like it was going to burst out of my chest and my legs felt like jelly. I continued to run forward because I had to save my friend.

After what felt like hours, I made it to Ciel's lab. On the outside, it was a tall white building without many windows and looked perfect. But the inside was probably ravaged and destroyed.

I touched the door and made it fall forward, making a loud crashing noise as it landed. I looked around to see if anyone had noticed, even though there wasn't anyone for blocks. I peered in the dark building at first and noticed broken walls, fallen bookshelves, and destroyed furniture. There was obviously a fight in here and I was surprised that the outside wasn't damaged at all.

I stepped inside and tried to turn on the light, but it didn't work, which was kind of to be expected. I navigated through the rooms as best as I could in the darkness. Ciel wasn't anywhere on the current floor, so I had to make the choice of going up or down. I looked around for an elevator or stairs so I could figure out which way Ciel went.

I grew restless as I walked around the floor searching for an elevator door. I eventually found an elevator, but the door was gone. I stared down and couldn't see anything but pitch black darkness. I wasn't confident in my rope sliding abilities, so I looked for stairs. I opened the first door I could find and saw destroyed stairs as well, except that the top staircases were mostly untouched. That means that Ciel definitely went to the lower floors. But how low?

I climbed down the stairs as quickly and carefully as I could. The staircases might have received some damage and could crumble, not to mention the fact that it was really dark and that some steps could be missing. I almost fell a few times as I descended the stairs. After a few minutes of descending, I noticed that there were large scratches on the walls, probably meaning that they were fighting while going down the stairs. After a while, the scratches stopped a certain point, meaning that Ciel got off at this floor.

I exited the stairwell and entered another room. It was more cluttered and destroyed than the one I was previously in. I moved carefully over fallen bookshelves, tables, and lab equipment. I jumped over a fallen bookcase and slipped on the landing and landed face first into some glass. The landing itself already hurt, so the pain from the glass made it like my face was on fire! I kind of wish it was so I could see better, but at the same time, I'm glad it wasn't. I removed as much glass as I could out of my face and checked my eyesight to see if there was any glass stuck in any of my eyes. Thankfully, there wasn't.

I got up slowly and walked slower this time, feeling more anxious and restless than ever before. Ciel was on this floor and Prometheus and Pandora were probably still around too. But as I walked around, I couldn't hear anything or anyone make any noise.

I felt around with my right hand and touched a crumbled pillar of some sort. It felt like it was cut clean in half by a sharp blade. Ciel called Prometheus a Grim Reaper, so he probably had some sort of scythe with him.

Near the pillar was a beam saber, more than likely Ciel's, and I picked it up. I used it as a source of light to navigate through the pitch-black rooms. There was rubble and debris everywhere, meaning that Ciel put up quite a fight against Prometheus and Pandora. Yet she didn't stand a chance against me in the Accelerated World...

I noticed a familiar helmet faintly in the corner of the room. I walked quickly towards it, making sure I didn't trip over anything. As I neared the body, I immediately knew who it was.

I found Ciel with her eyes closed and a giant bloody hole through her chest. Her armor was all battered and dull from the previous fight.

"Ciel!" I said, shaking her a little. I already knew she was dead, but I tried anyway.

I was probably imagining it, but I saw her eyes flicker a little. I touched her face with my right hand to see if she would respond. This time, her eyes slowly opened.

"You're alive!" I said, relieved.

"Why... did you...?" she gasped.

"Don't talk. I'm going to get you out of here and into a hospital! You're going to live, you got that?!" I said frantically, trying to carry Ciel in my arms.

"Don't... It's too... late for that..."

"What are you talking about! You're still alive and talking!"

"The Biometal... is better... than I expect...ed."

"The Biometal is keeping you alive?" I asked shockingly.

She simply nodded as an answer.

That meant I couldn't get her out of here and into a hospital. If the Biometal was keeping her alive, reverting back to her normal form would simply kill her. I put my arms under Ciel's head and legs and carefully carried the surprisingly heavy Ciel to a ground with carpet. I carefully set her down and sat next to my dying friend.

"Looks like this is really goodbye," I choked out.

"Yeah..." she gasped.

"I'll destroy those Model Ws. I promise you that."

"Don't lose... sight of yourself... there are still things... you must protect."

"I know."

I had promised myself those years ago that I would protect the bonds I shared with my friends and their bonds. Of course, I couldn't be everywhere at once, so this promise was impossible to keep. Still, I will keep striving to protect those that I love.

"One more thing..." Ciel gasped.

"What is it?"

"Even though we only talked for... a short time... tell Zero... I loved him."

I nodded slowly in response and felt powerful emotions surge through my body.

The light in Ciel's eyes grew bright for a few moments as she beamed at me. Then the lights flickered out, and Ciel was no more.

The tears that were welled up in my eyes broke out and flowed freely. I cried quietly, not wanting to disturb the dead Ciel or the silence of the night. And then, something magical happened. Ciel began to hover slowly and also began to glow. I stared at her in awe, wondering what was going to happen. Her body then shimmered and began to dissolve into sparkles of pink light. After a few moments, Ciel completely disappeared, leaving no traces of her behind.

There was so much pain in my chest right now. Perhaps it was my pain combined with Zero's, which was probably ten times bigger than mine. I laid down on the spot where Ciel was just previously resting on and fell into a sad, dreamless sleep.

* * *

I woke up and found myself in a dark room that felt like a distant memory.

Then I remembered where I was.

I got up slowly and wiped off any debris on my clothes. I walked slowly to the stairwell and climbed the stairs. I opened up my Neuro Linker to check on the time and found it to be eight in the morning. It looks like I'm skipping school today.

After what seemed like years, I stepped out of the stairwell and into the main floor. In the morning light, I could see clearly that this floor looked like normal living space. I could picture Ciel relaxing on this floor, drinking coffee and using her Neuro Linker to check out the morning headlines.

I noticed a cracked tablet on the ground under a bookshelf. I crouched down to examine the tablet. It didn't look too damaged. It might still work. If not, I could just copy the data onto my Neuro Linker. I lifted the bookshelf up and took out the tablet carefully, making sure not to cause any more damage. I stepped out of Ciel's house and walked back home.

Adults were bustling about on the streets, more than likely heading to work. It was strange to see a kid like me walking about at a time like this. I should've been at school right now. In fact, if I didn't come over here in the first place, I would've been at school on time.

But none of that mattered right now. I didn't care about school today. I just wanted to do what I promised Ciel. I wanted to destroy the Model Ws that caused this to happen.

"Hey kid, are you lost or something?" asked a female adult who was eyeing me.

"No, I'm heading home," I replied with a dull voice.

"Why aren't you at school?"

"Personal reasons."

She probably thought I was a delinquent. I didn't really care since I probably wasn't ever going to see her again.

"You shouldn't skip school. It's unhealthy."

"Please leave me alone."

She looked at me in surprise and obeyed, to my relief. I continued to walk home without talking to anyone on the way there. I didn't bother calling Sachiko or Fuuko, because I was afraid I would start crying in public.

I got home after an hour of walking. I walked into my room and stared at the Biometal that was clutched in my right hand.

"Biometal... Model Z, huh..." I said to myself.

Even after calling it by its name, the Biometal didn't respond to my voice. I guess it just wasn't ready yet.

I set the cracked tablet down on my desk and stared at it for a while. If I looked at what was on there, some of my questions will be answered and I'll have even more questions to ask. So I decided against looking at it. I had enough to deal with right now.

The loss of Ciel hurt me more than I thought it would, and I wasn't exactly sure why. She wasn't around enough to have that much of an impact on me, but she did help out during the Ragnarok incident. Yet why do I feel as though I had lost a family member or a girlfriend?

Immediately, I thought back to Ciel talking about how Zero's consciousness merged with mine. It sounded ridiculous back then, but now I believed it without any doubts. This was the reason why I felt so compelled to go to Ciel and why I felt emotionally devastated after she died. Zero's strong feelings combined with my moderately strong feelings and made me feel like an emotional wreck.

I sighed and lied down on my bed to recollect my thoughts. Wouldn't it be a bit dangerous to have two consciousnesses in one body? Zero could take over any time he wanted to since his mind was strong, perhaps even stronger than mine. After all, the only reason why I learned Incarnation so fast was because of Zero's help.

After a few moments of staring at the ceiling, I was about to fall asleep again. But a few swift knocks on the door pulled me back to reality. I walked briskly to the front door and opened it. I was surprised to find Kuroyukihime standing there out of breath.

"K-Kuroyukihime? What're you doing here?" I asked.

"Why did you skip school today?" she asked angrily.

"I, erm, went to check on Ciel last night..."

"How did you know where she was?"

"She sent me her a-address in a m-message."

"What did you find?"

"I found a nearly dead Ciel. Shortly after arriving, she died," I said glumly.

Kuroyukihime tightened her grip on the door handle and bit her lip. Was she really angry or really frustrated right now? Either way, I didn't want to be around her when she got angry.

"I'm sorry," she whispered while shifting her gaze to the floor.

"Don't worry about it."

She looked back up and focused onto my face. Then she ran towards me and gently felt my face with her thin fingers.

"What happened to your face?" she cried.

"I fell into some glass..."

She sighed and led me to where a first aid kit was, which was in the kitchen. Kuroyukihime knew where mostly everything was in my house, which was helpful because I often forgot. After she patched up my face, we went into the living room and sat down together. I turned on the TV to make the tension in the air less distracting.

"So why aren't you at school?" I asked.

"We were released early," she answered.

"That's weird," I remarked.

"I agree. There wasn't anything dangerous at all when I looked around the school."

"Maybe it was a gas leak or something?"

"Perhaps. We'll know tomorrow."

We sat in a momentary state of silence. I knew Kuroyukihime wanted to talk about Ciel, but she wasn't sure if it was a touchy subject or not. If I were Zero, I would have avoided that subject entirely. But I'm not Zero, so I decided to talk about her.

"You want to know what happened at Ciel's lab, don't you?" I asked.

"Yeah. I wasn't sure if you were comfortable with it, seeing that you were there when she died."

"Don't worry, I'm alright with it," I said with a sad smile.

So I informed Kuroyukihime of what was going on. Ciel's fight with Prometheus and Pandora, their superior who was referred to as HE, and the multiple Model Ws.

"And I thought we were done last year..." she sighed.

"Me too," I chuckled.

Suddenly, the program on TV was interrupted by a news anchor talking about an explosion that happened near Kuroyukihime's high school. I turned my attention to the TV and was startled by the images that were being shown on the screen. There hasn't really been any serious accidents in Japan ever since the Fukushima Daiichi disaster back in 2011, so this was big news.

"You wanna go check it out?" I asked Kuroyukihime.

"You think that our enemy is behind this?" she asked.

"Of course. Nothing like this happens on accident anymore."

"Alright. We have to be careful, though."

"I know."

I gripped Model Z tightly in my right hand and ran with Kuroyukihime towards her high school. She led the way, since I was unfamiliar with the route to her high school. Along the way, we found dozens of people running in the opposite direction. They were yelling at us to run back for some reason. Wasn't it just an explosion? Were there bombs?

My questions would soon be answered as we neared Sachiko's high school. We saw police cars lined up and officers shooting at something with handguns. It was like a war zone, except without any actual military personnel.

"We need reinforcements!" one officer cried to his radio.

Sachiko and I exchanged glances as we neared the police cars. I peered over them and saw something that should have only existed in the Accelerated World.

[Database]

[Zero - A mysterious entity who found his way into Lan's Neuro Linker the year before. Also known as the Red Hero or the God of Destruction.]


	4. Chapter 3 - ROCK ON!

The being in front of me had a red gazelle-like design. His body was a sand color, with details in red, black and white. He had two cannons for arms with long red hooks on the wrists, and a pair of red and black horns with the appearance of sword blades.

This was something similar to those machines Dr. Weil created one year ago. I remember fighting Deathtanz Mantisk, a mantis-like machine that had the ability to speak and think. Was this thing in front of me the same kind of machine I fought?

The gazelle responded to the gunfire by roaring and shooting flaming arrows out of his cannons. Sachiko and I sensed the danger and ran away from the police cars, yelling at the officers to do the same. Most of them heard us and followed suit while the others continued to shoot at the red gazelle. The flaming arrows hit the police cars that were lined up and caused a giant explosion. I could feel the heat even at a safe distance!

Sachiko, the remaining police officers, and I hid behind more cover and peeked at the gazelle, which was now dashing towards us with tremendous speed! If this was the Accelerated World, I would have stopped it in its tracks and sliced it to bits. These thoughts were the same thoughts that occurred to me one year ago, when monsters like that gazelle appeared in the real world.

"Is Ragnarok happening again?" Sachiko asked.

"I don't think so. If it was, we'd be seeing laser beams and more of that guy by now," I said.

"Go home, kids!" an officer yelled at us.

The officers continued to shoot at the gazelle with their pistols, but they didn't do any damage at all. The gazelle jumped into the air and hovered for a few seconds with his foot facing us. At that moment, I yelled at everyone to scatter, pulling Sachiko with me.

As we scurried away as fast as we could, the gazelle flew down with a huge amount of momentum and speed. It crashed into the ground and made a moderately large crater in the middle of the street.

"Wh-What are you?" I cried.

"Me... Pseudoroid Buckfire! You... Mega Man!" the gazelle, who was apparently Buckfire, spoke. It was as if Japanese wasn't his primary language.

"M-Mega Man? Me?" I was confused. I wasn't the blue bomber who had his own line of video games in the late 20th century. **(A/N: In this story, Mega Man only exists as the classic series. The X, Zero, ZX, etc don't exist.)**

"Biometal!" Buckfire roared.

"This?" I asked, holding up Model Z and feeling pretty stupid.

"Must... Destroy!"

"Run!" Sachiko cried.

She pulled me away from Buckfire, who shot more flaming arrows at us. We ducked and dodged as many as we could, but Sachiko was hit by one in the leg.

"Agh!" she cried as she fell.

I stopped to try to help her up, but her knee was burnt by the flaming arrow. Fortunately, it didn't look too bad. I ripped off a part of my long-sleeve shirt I was wearing and wrapped it tightly around her leg.

"C'mon, Sachiko. We gotta move!" I said, trying to pull her up.

"You have to leave me..." she gasped, wincing at the pain.

"No! I can't do that!"

"This thing wants you, not me!"

I glanced forward and saw Buckfire charging towards us at top speed. We were no match for this machine. If only I could Burst Link and become the Red Hero again...

"Go!" Sachiko cried.

I pocketed Model Z and carried her with my arms around her neck and legs. I started to run, but Buckfire flew up into the air, readying himself for another flying kick. I tried to put as much distance as possible between us, but I was a lowly human being. I was no match for a machine. Buckfire landed directly behind me, causing me to fly forward and drop Kuroyukihime.

"Dammit!" I cursed.

Buckfire roared loudly, making the earth rumble beneath us. I pulled out Biometal Model Z in response and hoped for the best.

_Please. Give me the power to protect the ones I love. I don't want any more people to die!_

Buckfire jumped into the air for another kick.

"Model Z!" I screamed.

_R.O.C.K. ON, _said a voice.

"R.O.C.K. ON!" I yelled at the top of my lungs as Buckfire flew downwards.

"Biolink established. R.O.C.K. system, online!" came the same voice again.

A blinding white light enveloped me as the transformation sequence began. It was similar to entering the battlefield for Brain Burst, except that I wasn't completely remodeled. I know for a fact that I didn't gain a helmet, but something did change my vision a little.

The white light disappeared and I saw Buckfire still falling down towards me. But he was in slow motion for some reason. So, without thinking, I pulled out my weapon and slashed him away.

"L-Lan? Is that you...?" Sachiko asked.

"I think so," I replied, feeling weird.

I stared down at myself and noticed that my attire had changed. I was now wearing an outfit that resembled Zero's look. This time, it really did feel like armor instead of clothes. The armor felt slightly bulkier, which was more noticeable in the arms. I touched my head and felt no helmet and just my normal hair. I looked behind me and saw that I also didn't sprout any golden hair, which was odd.

"Lan, enough of looking at yourself. You have an enemy to defeat," said a voice in my head.

Although I was startled by the voice, I followed its orders and switched my view to Buckfire, who was now in front of me.

"Mega Man... Model Z... Die!" Buckfire growled.

I dashed forward like a speeding bullet and sliced one of Buckfire's cannons off with the Z-Saber. I was already used to the speed and strength of Model Z, due to the fact that I've been using a nerfed Zero in Brain Burst. This was pretty much the same.

I turned around and was surprised to see Buckfire directly in front of me! He bashed me with his head and I flew backwards into a building. He chased me and threw his hooks that were around his wrists into the air.

"Watch out, those are sharp," said the voice again.

I recovered quickly and batted them away with the Z-Saber. I dashed forward again at Buckfire, charging up for a Charged Shot. I jumped over Buckfire and hit him in the back with a Charged Shot, which I nicknamed as the Saber Smash if I used it with the Z-Saber. It dealt a good amount of damage, but I wasn't done yet. I used Shoeunga, which wasn't element-charged, to send Buckfire into the air. I jumped with him and used Entsuizan to send him back to the ground. I then finished it off with a Rakuretsuzan and stabbed him right in the face.

"Gaahhh!" Buckfire roared in pain.

I finished off Buckfire by pulling out the Z-Saber and decapitating him.

The fight was over, but there was probably a war raging on between these things and the other Chosen Ones. I turned around to face Kuroyukihime and smiled.

"Not bad, huh?" I said.

"You're really good at surprising me," she chuckled.

I walked over to where she was resting and carried her like before. I walked over to where Buckfire laid and kicked his body, making sure he wouldn't come back to life. After a few seconds of no movement, I walked to where we left the police officers.

"You guys okay?" I asked them.

"Yeah. Wait… aren't you that kid from earlier?" one of them said.

I wasn't sure how to answer. If I told them the truth, would they hunt me down and question me? Would they take Biometal Model Z away from me?

"You can trust them," the voice in my head spoke again. I had a feeling it was either Zero or the Biometal.

"Yeah, I am," I finally answered.

"Wow. And you took care of that monster by yourself?"

"Y-Yeah."

"That's amazing! You should think about joining our team-"

"Sure, sure. First, let's make sure everyone's alright," I interrupted.

I set Kuroyukihime down gently and walked over to where the line of police cars blew up. I looked for survivors under burning car debris, but was unable to find a single living person. The people that remained here all died.

I walked back and heard a fire truck in the distance. The siren was getting louder and louder, indicating that it was coming closer.

"You should check the buildings for any survivors," Sachiko suggested.

I nodded in response and dashed into a burning building. I then noticed that I had a black visor over my eyes and that I could use it to scan the area for people. I went into many rooms and scanned them all, but found no living person, just like at the car wreck. Disappointed, I jumped out of the building and found myself standing before a few fire trucks and firemen. They were all staring at me.

I avoided their gaze and returned to Kuroyukihime, who was being tended to by paramedics. They put some cream on her leg and wrapped it in fresh cloth, telling her that she should take it easy for a while.

"Can you stand?" I asked her.

She tried to stand up, but toppled over. I caught her before anyone else could and carried her just like before.

"Don't worry about it," I said mainly to her. Then to the other people at the scene, "I didn't see any survivors, but you can double-check if you want. I'm going home."

Without waiting for a response, I dashed back to my place, which didn't take very long. I liked the Biometal. It gave me the power to protect the ones that I loved and to get away from the scene so I wouldn't be asked any questions.

I entered the house and set Sachiko down on the living room couch carefully.

"So how do I change back?" I asked Model Z.

"Easy."

And in a flash of light, I returned to my normal human form. Model Z appeared in front of me, floating directly above Sachiko's head.

"Y-You're floating!" I cried.

"I emit an anti-gravity zone that's slightly bigger than my size," Model Z explained.

"Oh. Wow, I'm amazed at how Ciel had access to such advanced technology..."

I sat down next to Sachiko's feet and reached for her hand. She took my hand and held it tightly with a smile. I was glad that she was safe now.

"So what was that thing? He called himself Buckfire," Sachiko asked Model Z.

"That is a Pseudoroid, an artificial Mega Man. They draw their power from a Biometal rather than being humans that merge with a Biometal," Model Z answered with a calm voice.

"So there's more Pseudoroids out there?"

"Unfortunately, I don't know the answer to that."

"I think I may know what has the answers," I spoke up.

I got up and walked to where I had set the cracked tablet I found at Ciel's old lab. I picked it up and got myself a cable, just in case it didn't work. I attempted to turn it on by pressing a switch on the top. The screen flickered on, but the text was barely readable. So I inserted the cable into my Neuro Linker and to the side of the tablet. I flipped through a few windows on my HUD and began to download the data.

"This might take a while," I said apologetically.

"Don't worry about it. We have plenty of time," Sachiko said.

"Don't you have to go home soon?"

"I'll call my parents."

So while my Neuro Linker was downloading the data from the tablet (there was quite a lot!), Sachiko called her parents and told her she was safe and that she was staying at my place for a bit. I don't know what her parents said, but I was sure they were asking if she was really okay and all that overprotective parent stuff.

"They said I could stay for as long as I needed to," she said, turning her head towards me.

"That's good. I'll take you home when it gets dark."

"You two are lovers, correct?" Model Z interjected.

Sachiko's face quickly turned red and so did mine. Although we've been a couple for over a year, we haven't told very many people about it, and often got shy about telling other people that we were a couple.

"Y-Yeah. Why?" I answered.

"Just making sure," Model Z said as it glanced between the two of us. "Did I say something wrong?"

"N-N-No! Don't worry about it," I said quickly.

After a few more minutes, the data was done transferring over. I sat back down next to Sachiko and cabled with her so she could see the data too.

I opened the new folder that was created and looked over the text documents with Sachiko. Unfortunately, we weren't able to understand much of it since it was mostly the basis of creating Biometals and such. There wasn't anything useful in this tablet.

But we found an audio file that seemed promising. I opened it and listened to the person talking, who sounded like Ciel.

"Biometal Report Classification #555913 *Chosen One* This message is intended for Lan and Vent, who will someday receive the Biometal I have created. In order to fight against Model W, I have constructed Model X and Model Z with the data I have obtained on X and Zero. There is still so much I don't understand... And I was forced to use the research on Model W as a basis for constructing the other two models. In other words, the ones with the potential to use Model X and Z, are the same ones with the potential to unleash Model W. As a chosen one, you have the power to save or destroy the world. I can only hope you use the power for good and that you will decide to guide the people to a bright future."

After the message was over, Sachiko and I sat in silence, still processing the information was just given to us. It was surprising to see that Weil was still alive (although not physically) and still trying to accomplish his goal.

"So Vent and I have the choice of becoming Heroes or destroying the world. Isn't it obvious that we'll choose to become Heroes?" I remarked.

"Maybe... Maybe Model W has the power to influence your decision?" Sachiko suggested.

"That sounds possible."

I detached the cable from my Neuro Linker and went into my room to look for the first tablet that I had received the day I learned Ciel was missing. I found it in no time and went back to the living room. I cabled with it and downloaded the data just like with the second tablet. After it was finished, I found that there was an audio file in this one too. Looks like the audio file only appeared when it was in a Neuro Linker. But why?

"There's an audio file in this tablet too," I told Sachiko.

"Alright. Let's hear it."

I cabled with Sachiko again and played the file. Once again, it was a girl speaking, more than likely to be Ciel.

"I discovered a Model W fragment a few months ago. By whom it was created by, I do not know. But I do know that this person created multiple Model Ws from the pieces of Ragnarok. How and why they managed to capture Dr. Weil's soul, I do no know either. I've managed to find one giant Model W and attempted to destroy it. However, due to the recent events, I believe that I didn't completely destroy it and that it has split into multiple parts scattered throughout Japan. I've entrusted the Biometals to the individuals I deem worthy and hope that they do what I could not.

Until then, I have provided a Model W searcher that will only work in the hands of the person who has Model X or Model Z."

I looked through the folders for the scanner, but couldn't find it. Did Ciel include it through the audio file? I checked my own folders and noticed that a new program was installed without me knowing.

"Sneaky," I said quietly.

"Is it in your Neuro Linker already?" Kuroyukihime asked.

"Yeah."

I opened it up and saw a map of Japan on a green grid. I pressed the "scan" button and a thick green line went over Japan. Red dots appeared in various places, but there was a large clump around Tokyo.

"Looks like we'll be travelling throughout the country," I said.

"Y-You're going to bring me along?"

"Of course. Why not?" I asked, confused.

"Because you're the only one with a Biometal."

"That's true. But I feel more comfortable with you by my side." It was a somewhat cheesy line to say, but it was true.

"Well, when you put it that way..." she sighed. "But how will you get from place to place?"

"That's easy," I said, glancing over at Model Z.

"I'm not going to let you carry me around everywhere," she pouted. "At least, not after my leg's healed."

"Uhm... What else would you suggest?"

Kuroyukihime narrowed her eyes and thought hard for a few moments. Obviously we couldn't drive, so getting a car wasn't an option. We didn't have enough money for plane tickets every few hours, nor did we have a fancy teleportation system that could transfer us from city to city... or did we? Well, maybe not us, but Ciel...

"I have no idea," she conceded.

"I have one. Let's go back to Ciel's lab to see if she has any teleportation devices," I suggested.

Sachiko stared at me blankly, as if to ask 'Seriously?'.

"I'm serious. If floating Biometals that can transform a human being into a fighting machine is possible, I'm sure teleportation is too."

"Alright then," she sighed again. "But after my leg is better."

"You could use Model Z." I turned to Model Z and it flew towards me.

"Sorry Lan, but you are the only one that is able to access my power," Model Z responded.

"Oh. That's right, I forgot."

Looks like we were going to have to wait until Kuroyukihime's leg recovered. Although I didn't mind very much, there were Model Ws that needed to be destroyed and Pseudoroids to be stopped (maybe). The world was in peril again but I had to wait for my girlfriend to feel better before saving it!

"Why did our life suddenly turn into a manga?" I wondered aloud.

Sachiko only giggled in response. I didn't expect an answer from Model Z, since it sounded like a very dumb question.

[Database]

[Buckfire the Gaxelleroid - A pseudoroid with gazelle traits from North American Indians. Equipped with a fragment of Model W, Buckfire specializes in blitz tactics. He uses his Biometal's output to superheat the blades on his arms and head, as well as to shoot fire arrows from his cannons.]

[Biometal Model Z - A Biometal created by Ciel that has the replicated data of Zero. Its Biomatch is Lan. Once R.O.C.K.'d ON, its nickname is the "Red Mega Man".]


	5. Chapter 4 - A Hero, No More

_One Week Later_

It's been one week since I R.O.C.K.'d ON with Model Z. Since then, there have been no other incidents concerning a Pseudoroid or Model W, which was really nice. Kuroyukihime's leg healed slowly but surely over the past week. Now she was able to walk a good distance before her leg began to hurt.

I went to school like usual this entire week. Thankfully, nothing happened there either. Kuroyukihime's high school continued on as well, but only on the third day after the event with Buckfire to ensure that more things wouldn't happen. The police were still investigating on who planned the attack and the red warrior who came to save the day. Fortunately, nobody took a picture of me. Looks like I'll remain anonymous for a bit.

Today, Kuroyukihime and I walked over to Ciel's place with Model Z strapped onto my waist where he remained quiet and still. Although our main goal was to reach Ciel's lab, Kuroyukihime, being the girl she is, was killing most of the time by window shopping and often stared at things that interested her. It was a good thing I was here, or else we would have never made it to Ciel's lab.

In the end, it took us about an hour and a half to get there with some extra baggage (thanks to Kuroyukihime). The exterior looked the same as ever. I also noticed that the front door wasn't missing and that it looked good as new. Did Ciel have a butler or something do this? I placed the thought in a different part of my mind for another time and opened the door. I half-expected it to be locked, but it wasn't. I also expected the inside to be the same as one week ago, but it wasn't as well. Although the walls were still damaged, the furniture and ornaments were all neatly cleaned and placed back to their original places.

"Is something wrong?" Kuroyukihime asked.

"Not really..." I said as I set the bags down on a nearby pink couch. "It's just that the place looks cleaner than I last remembered it."

"Maybe Ciel has a caretaker of some sorts?" she suggested.

"It would make the most sense. Let's just hope they aren't here right now."

I showed Kuroyukihime the way down the Ciel's _actual _lab through the stairwell. The floor that we were on was more of a place to relax when she wasn't chasing Model Ws, or busy running away from bad guys.

I immediately regretted making the joke about Ciel's death when my chest area began to hurt. I stopped walking down the stairs to catch my break and clench my chest.

"Lan? What's wrong?" she asked, worried.

"I-It's nothing," I said with a pained expression.

"It looks like you're having a heart attack!"

"I'm fine. Serious. See?" I said as I walked down the stairs again, wincing at every step. What was happening to me?

We continued our way down the stairs with Kuroyukihime helping me out every so often so I didn't fall or anything. Although her face was full of worry, she wasn't going to give up for me. After all, a Burst Linker's job was to continue fighting.

If Zero's consciousness merged with mine, did it really mean that every time he felt strong emotions, such as pain, I would feel them too? But this emotion felt _very _powerful. So powerful, in fact, that my body could barely handle it!

_Calm down Zero! I take back the joke! _I thought to myself.

The pain in my chest slowly ebbed away after telling Zero that. Once Kuroyukihime noticed that I felt better, the worry disappeared from her face.

"Let's continue," she said with a smile.

"Yeah," I answered.

After a few more flights of stairs, I opened a door that revealed Ciel's secret lab. Once again, it was much cleaner than I remembered it being. The broken glass, tossed furniture, and destroyed equipment no longer existed. Instead, the floor looked as if almost nothing happened to it.

I flipped a light switch and found that electricity was running through the building once again, which was really helpful. Looking for things in the dark was like looking walking through a desert while blind.

Kuroyukihime and I decided to look for things together, mostly because I happened to like to touch new and random things I've never seen before. She was there to keep me in check so I didn't hurt myself or destroy anything that looked important. Everything looked important, to be honest. I didn't feel like touching anything at all as I walked around and gazed at the computers, monitors, and buttons.

"There doesn't seem to be any teleporting devices in here," I said glumly.

"Nothing looks like it could be a teleporter, that's for sure," Kuroyukihime remarked.

We actually had no idea what we were looking for. The basic shape we had in mind was a giant machine that looked cylindrical with a giant computer next to it. We found something that was kind of similar to it. It was what seemed like a golden showerhead with a computer monitor beneath it. It was about a foot or two taller than me, so it was probably a transportation system.

"Well? What about this?" I asked.

"I dunno…"

I touched the monitor and it lit up with a green backlight. There were two options on the screen: 'Mission Request' and 'Transport'. I tapped the 'Transport' option and a list of locations appeared. They all seemed to be in Japan, which was ridiculous.

"So in one year, Ciel was able to create the Biometals..." I started saying.

"And plant these transportation systems throughout Japan?" Kuroyukihime finished.

"She was an extraordinary one. But I didn't think she'd be-"

The pain returned to my chest. I accidently leaned forward and tapped a location. The showerhead came down a considerable distance and a golden bar encircled both Kuroyukihime and me. A few moments later, green lights flickered around us faster and faster.

"Lan!" Kuroyukihime yelled out as she reached for me.

I attempted to grab her hand, but my hand went right through hers as it disappeared into white data fragments. Soon, my entire body changed into the same substance and my vision went white.

After what felt like an hour, I reappeared in the opposite fashion I disappeared in. After my vision was back to normal, I made sure every body part was in the correct place and that they were mine. After all, the transportation system could be only made for one person and could've screwed up if it were two people using it at the same time.

"Kuroyukihime? Are you there?" I asked, looking around.

"What? Yeah, I'm fine…" she answered. She was right beside me like before we teleported.

I tapped the screen so we could go back, but was disappointed to find out that there was a cool down time. I sighed and informed Kuroyukihime of the bad news.

"It won't be too bad as long as we don't encounter any of those Pseudoroids, right?" she asked.

"I'm sure I can take them on just fine," I boasted as I checked my waist for Model Z. Thankfully, he was exactly where I had left him.

"Where exactly are we?" she said as she peeked out of the teleporter.

My chest was still in pain, but not to the point where I couldn't stand. I stepped out of the teleporter and took a good look around our new location. It was a really dark place/room without any windows. There were metal crates everywhere, holding who-knows-what.

"I have no idea," I finally said.

"Let's look for a door," she suggested.

I agreed with her and we held hands so we wouldn't split up. I led the way around the dark room slowly, just in case there were fragile things here. I found the outer perimeter of the room and felt the wall as I walked slowly forwards.

It was extremely quiet as Kuroyukihime and I looked for the way out. There were no sounds of machines running or people talking. It was as if time itself had stopped.

We eventually found the door in the very back of the room. I opened it and a dim light flooded in. Although it wasn't much, it was enough to see a few feet in front of us. I continued to lead the way and stared at the surroundings. There were more metal containers in this new area. It looked like we were in a storage facility of some sorts. Why would this be a location for the teleporter?

"Lan? Does your chest still hurt?" Kuroyukihime asked quietly.

"What? No, I'm fine," I replied. The pain in my chest faded away just like last time. It was more bothersome than accelerating before falling asleep at night.

"Shh! I think I can hear someone," she whispered harshly.

_But you were the one who asked me a question... _I said to myself.

Nevertheless, I stopped talking and listened closely to my surroundings. Ever since I started going to the Accelerated World and fighting other Burst Linkers, my senses have improved quite a bit over the past year. However, I didn't turn into some crazy superhuman who could predict all forms of movement. I was just better at picking up things non-Burst Linkers couldn't pick up.

After stopping and listening closely, I heard a small voice somewhere to the right of us. It sounded like a male teenager talking to a friend of some sorts...

"-not even sure if it's here or not. I can see it on the sensor, but it doesn't seem to be anywhere."

"Keep looking, Vent," said another voice, lighter and smaller. "We mustn't let anyone else find this Model W."

Kuroyukihime and I instantly looked at each other. There was a Model W here! That's why this place was a teleportation destination. But how did Ciel know a fragment was going to appear here?

"Should we reveal ourselves to Vent?" I whispered to Kuroyukihime. "I mean, we were friends back when we were defeating Omega and Ragnarok."

"I don't know. Didn't Ciel say that the two of you were capable of destroying the world? What if this person who's with Vent is trying to make Vent destroy the world?" she suggested.

"Then it's our duty to help Vent see the light."

"Can you really take them both on?"

"I can do it. Stay safe and hidden, alright?"

"Okay. Be careful!"

I nodded and walked briskly towards Vent's voice. Who was he talking to?

"Be careful Vent! I sense Biometal," said the lighter voice.

"Is it Model W?" Vent asked.

"No. It's something else. Something familiar..."

I continued walking towards their voices quietly. I didn't want to surprise them, but I didn't want to be at a disadvantage either. I wanted to see who he was with, at the very least.

I peered around a metal crate and saw Vent standing by himself, scanning the area with his eyes. He looked different compared to when I last saw him last year. His hair was now much longer and reached his lower waist. His blue vest was unzipped and had an emblem was pinned to the left side. He still wore white pants and blue boots that resembled Zero's boots.

_I wonder what that emblem means? _I thought to myself.

I decided to figure it out for myself and stepped out of hiding. Vent spotted me and whipped his entire body around. I then saw who he was with. Vent was talking to his Biometal, Model X. I could tell it was Model X because: a) It was blue and looked like X's head and b) Ciel said she gave Model X and Z to me and Vent. Since I had Model Z, Vent obviously had Model X.

"Lan? What are you doing here?" Vent asked with a look of suspicion.

"I could ask you the same thing," I replied coolly.

"I'm looking for the Model W fragment."

"I see. And what are you going to do with this fragment?"

"That's none of your business."

And tension filled the air almost instantly after he said that.

"What do you plan on doing with the Model W fragment?" Vent asked back.

"Destroying it," I simply answered.

"I see," he said, shifting his gaze to the ground. "It looks like I'll have to stop you."

I sighed in response. I was hoping that I didn't have to fight Vent. I had hoped that we would be friends again and finish what Ciel started.

"Model X!" he shouted as he grabbed Model X with his right hand.

"Model Z!" I shouted in response, pulling Model Z off of my waist.

"R.O.C.K. ON!" we both cried at the same time.

"Biolink established. R.O.C.K. system, online!" both the Biometals recited simultaneously.

A white light filled the room as we transformed at the same time. I was sure Kuroyukihime was watching somewhere, disappointed that we had to fight each other instead of fight Model W together.

The light faded away after a few moments and the Blue Hero (or rather, the Blue Mega Man) stood in front of me. He looked almost exactly like X when X was his duel avatar in the Accelerated World. Like me, his armor was slightly bulkier than the being he was modeled after.

"Mega Man Model Z... The Red Mega Man," Vent said.

"I prefer the Red Hero still. Don't you remember?" I said.

"Of course I do. How could anyone forget?"

"Then why must we fight as foes and not friends?"

"Because we plan on doing different things with the Model W that's here."

Once again, the immense pain from before came back. My chest felt like it was about to explode! Vent noticed my pained expression and smiled, as if he already won.

"Hurt from a previous battle? That's too bad. I was hoping for a good fight."

"Oh don't worry. It will... still be a good fight," I managed to say without gasping in pain.

To prove to him I was still able to fight, I pulled out the Z-Saber and dashed towards him. Vent was unprepared for the surprise attack and attempted to jump away, but I was slightly faster. I used Shoeunga and scratched the front portion of his armor. I wanted to see if Vent remembered my attack pattern, so I used Rakuretsuzan and dive-bombed towards Vent with my saber out.

Once again, he was caught off guard. I managed to scraped his backside as he dashed away from the falling blade. I stabbed the ground, but pulled the saber out quickly. I looked around for Vent and found him dashing behind me with his arm cannon out and glowing. He was using a Charged Shot that functioned very similar to mine. As he shot out a big blue ball of energy, I timed my swipe with my blade just right and knocked it away. I force of the shot was quite powerful, so I found myself stumbling backwards after doing so. Not to mention the fact that the pain in my chest hadn't disappeared yet.

To my surprise, Vent shot off another shot that looked more powerful compared to the first Charged Shot he shot at me, which was really strange. How did he shoot another one without charging first? It was a blue energy ball encircled by two smaller red ones. I narrowly dodged it as it neared my face. It blew up a metal container behind me and some sparks came out, lighting up the insides.

I wasn't sure if Kuroyukihime was hiding behind there, but I didn't have time to check because of more energy shots being shot at me. I batted most of the smaller, yellow ones away, but had to dodge the bigger blue ones. My movement became more and more rigid after every shot blocked or dodged, and I didn't know why. Why was it getting harder and harder to fight?

I was so concerned with moving my body that I didn't notice the stronger Charged Shot closing in on me. It hit me directly in the chest and I felt the heat and power of it surge through my body, followed immediately by a lot of pain.

I flew backwards into a metal container and broke into it. I wasn't sure what hurt more afterwards, my chest or my back. I gripped the Z-Saber firmly in my right hand and stood up again. I dashed towards Vent again and attempted a Reppuugeki, but was too slow this time. Vent jumped into the air and shot more yellow energy shots at me. I felt like everything was moving faster and that my body was slowing down.

_What... the hell?! _I angrily thought. My vision was becoming somewhat blurry as I scanned the area for Vent again.

I found him on top of a metal container in front of me, shooting his Charged Shots. I tried to dodge away again, but was hit by both shots. To make matters worse, the shots landed directly on my chest, making it hurt so much I couldn't even move. My entire body was paralyzed as I flew backwards and hit the ground.

"Why... can't I stand... and fight?" I asked aloud to no one in particular.

"Good-bye, Lan. I'll be taking the Model W... and your Biometal as well," Vent said as he neared me.

I tried to move my body, but it refused to move. It was like when I crash landed after the destruction of Ragnarok. Back then, I was able to move my body through sheer willpower, but this time, it was different. No matter how much strength I attempted to put into my body, it refused to move.

"Stoooop!" cried a female voice. Kuroyukihime!

"N...No...!" I gasped.

She suddenly appeared in front of me with her arms outstretched like she could block the incoming energy shots.

"Stop fighting!" she cried.

"Get out of the way. This is a fight for Mega Men only," Vent said as he kicked her aside. She flew sideways and fell onto the ground. She struggled to get up again to protect me from Vent.

"Vent, your mission is to extract the Model W, not eliminate other Mega Men," said a voice that came from Vent.

"Why do I have to keep him alive? He's planning on destroying the Model Ws," Vent complained.

"Because he's your friend, right?" I realized that this was Model X speaking some sense into Vent.

"Not really. We just destroyed Ragnarok together, that's all. But if you want me to spare him, I'll do it," Vent sighed.

He looked at me with hostility burning in his eyes and he walked away, in search of the Model W that was hidden in this place. I couldn't move any part of my body. All I could do was lie down on the ground and stare at Kuroyukihime, who was now running towards me with tears in her eyes.

"What happened? You were doing just fine a few moments ago!" she said, holding my head to her chest.

"I... don't know," I replied slowly. "My body... just stopped... functioning."

"Let's... Let's go home..." she sobbed.

I nodded slowly. I silently told Model Z to revert me back to normal, and he followed my order. Thankfully, I wasn't hurt too badly. Just burned in some areas. Other than that, I was doing okay. I still couldn't move, however.

"You're going to have to carry me or something," I said to Kuroyukihime.

"And you said you were going to carry me everywhere," she chuckled.

Kuroyukihime helped me up and walked slowly to where we came from, which was quite a long ways away. As we walked there, the only sounds that I could hear were my heart beating rapidly and Kuroyukihime's sobs.

I felt extremely tired and was surprised at her ability to carry me for such a long distance without hurting her leg. Although she was doing more dragging than carrying, it was an extraordinary sight.

Why did I feel so awful right now? My chest felt like it was about to burst and I was slowly losing consciousness. What was wrong with me? Was I drugged when I met Vent? Or was it like before, at the stairs?

"Kuroyukihime... are we almost... there?" I asked in an almost inaudible voice.

"Just hold on for a little longer, Lan!" she yelled. She sounded so far away...

I continued to stay away for her sake. I continued to fight the pain, to fight the blackness. My will wasn't strong enough to move my own body, what made me think it would be strong enough to keep me awake?

"What... is with... these damn... thoughts?" I said almost inaudibly again.

"What's wrong?" she cried.

"I'm... blacking..."

Darkness clouded my vision and my body went limp.

[Database]

[Vent - A boy who was very close to Ciel. He helped Lan fight against Dr. Weil in the giant space station known as Ragnarok. His motives for wanting the Model W fragment is unknown.]

[Biometal Model X - A Biometal made by Ciel that has the replicated data of X. Its Biomatch is Vent. Once R.O.C.K.'d ON, its nickname is the "Blue Mega Man". Its special ability is that it can copy battle data from another defeated Biometal.]


	6. Chapter 5 - A Hero Divided

"Lan!" I called out loudly. He had blacked out on me when we were almost halfway there!

_What do I do now? _I thought to myself. I couldn't carry Lan all the way there! Not to mention the fact that the fire was spreading around the building quickly. Although it lit everything up, it was dangerous to stay too long because of the smoke. I continued to trod on, half-dragging and half-carrying Lan.

After a few minutes, I had managed to walk a few meters. But my vision was getting hazy and I began to cough because of the smoke clogging my lungs. I was sure that Lan and I would die here if I didn't do anything soon.

"Model Z!" I cried out. The red Biometal popped out of nowhere and hovered next to me.

"What is it?" it asked.

"I need you to *cough* lend me your power."

"You cannot R.O.C.K. ON with me because you are not my biomatch."

"Let me try, at least!"

Model Z continued to stare at me while the building was starting to collapse. I hope the teleporter was safe!

"Model Z! Please!" I pleaded.

"Alright," it finally answered.

I grabbed it with my right hand and held it as high as I could.

"R.O.C.K. ON!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. A few seconds passed and nothing happened. I gave up right then and there until-

"Biolink established. R.O.C.K. system, online!" Model Z recited.

A flash of white light engulfed me like it had engulfed Lan when he first transformed into the Red Hero. It felt similar to the transformation sequence for my duel avatar in the Accelerated World, which was odd. Were the two linked somehow?

I returned to the real world after a few moments and found myself in the armor of the Red Hero. Although red wasn't my color (I had often made fun of the Red King for being quite red in real life), I had to use the power to save Lan and myself. I lifted Lan over my shoulders and dashed to the teleporter. I hoped that the fire didn't make the building collapse on it!

I found the door to the small room and kicked it down. I was surprised to find the strength of the Red Hero to be quite powerful! I found the teleporter and put Lan on it. I set the destination to "My Lab", which was more than likely Ciel's lab, and activated the transporter. Then I jumped off at the last second, leaving Lan the only one to teleport away. I silently prayed for Lan to reach the correct location and that nobody was going to be there to harm him.

"I'm going to go find that Model W now. Will you help me, Model Z?" I asked.

"I can't find its exact location, but we can follow Model X, who was looking for Model W," Model Z's voice resonated in my head.

"That's fine. Point me the way!"

I dashed out of the room and a waypoint appeared on my HUD, showing me where to go. I didn't expect to see a waypoint, but I followed it anyway. I felt my eyes and found that there was a visor there, just like on Lan's face when he R.O.C.K.'d ON. I wondered what kind of weapons I had. Was it the same as Lan's assortment of weapons, or was I limited because I wasn't the correct Biomatch?

"Say, Model Z, how was I able to R.O.C.K. ON with you?"

"I have no clue."

"Oh." That was a bummer. "Why am I not coughing violently even with all this smoke?"

"The Biometal gives you subtle superhuman powers. One is the ability to breathe underwater, as well as staying thousands of feet underwater without the pressure killing you. And another is to be able to breathe in smoke without harming your lungs."

"Those aren't very subtle. Do you even know what that word means?"

"Those are subtle compared to the immense power of a Biometal."

"I see."

I focused my attention on following the waypoints and bashing through doors. I needed to find the Model W fragment and finish the job. After all, we were finishing what Ciel started.

* * *

I awoke to find myself in a familiar place. It wasn't my house or the Kirigaya's, yet it felt like I've been here before. I sat up and looked around, trying to figure out where I was. The walls were grey and cracked, as if they were from ancient times.

I stood and began to walk around. There was only one path forward, so I walked in that direction. I heard familiar voices in my head as I walked along the path.

"You're the Legendary… right?" said a faint female voice.

"…is that my name? I can't remember," said a faint male voice.

"I'm sorry for waking you up, but please lend me your power!"

I continued to walk with these voices flying around in my head. Was I in the real world or was I in some other world? Would it be something more like the Accelerated World or some crazy illusionary world? I shook my head to try to clear the voices out of it, but it failed. I found that the voices intensified as I continued walking; probably meaning I was nearing the end.

"I never cared about justice, and I don't recall ever calling myself a hero. I have always only fought for the people I believe in. I won't hesitate... If an enemy appears in front of me, I will destroy it!" said a loud and clear voice that I realized was Zero.

"Zeeerroooo!" screamed a female voice over a radio that sounded like Ciel's.

I found myself in front of a door that was more ancient than the hallway itself. The door had many cracks, holes, and rust, yet it remained standing strong. However, as I looked closer, it looked as if it could topple over at any time.

I punched the door with all of my might and it crumbled to pieces, just as I had guessed. In front of me was the room I remembered very clearly. It was the room that contained the sleeping Zero. It was this very room I found myself in when I entered the state of Zero Fill when I was facing Omega Zero in the Accelerated World.

I walked to the rather giant rock that held the sleeping Zero captive. I looked inside and saw him bound by wires, armless and weaponless. Why Zero chose to always stay like this, I had no idea. It didn't suit the Red Hero, in my opinion. He deserved a throne like X and the Four Guardians.

"Zero!" I called out to him.

His eyes slowly flickered open as I walked closer. His pitch-black eyes stared at me as I stood in front of him.

"Why must you wake me?" he asked.

"Well, first of all, you're subconsciously hurting me."

"Sorry for that. I can't help but feel really emotional when you mention Ciel or fight one of my closest friends," he said with no emotion.

"Since when did you turn into a... a _crybaby?! _Where's the Zero who told me to stand and fight, despite the circumstances?" I asked angrily.

"There's no reason to fight anymore," he answered.

"I didn't feel any pains in my chest when I fought Buckfire."

"That's because you fought an enemy who was going to harm Kuroyukihime."

"So the chest pains won't come if I don't fight your friends or think about Ciel?"

"That sums it up, yes."

I couldn't believe that this was the Zero who joked with me and gave me confidence back then. What had happened that caused him to be like this? Well, Ciel's death was definitely a given, but why did it shake him so much? I couldn't help but feel really sorry for the guy.

I walked up to Zero and put both my hands on his helmet. I shifted his gaze towards my head and I smiled sadly at him.

"Zero, we're partners now. We're two consciousnesses in the same body. Whatever you feel, I feel it too. So please, don't be sad over Ciel's death and move on like I have."

"I'm not sure how..." he said slowly.

"Do what I'm doing. I'm fighting to finish what Ciel started. Think of it like that, okay?" I answered. "Weren't you made to fight?"

"Sometimes, someone fights too much and then they get sick of it."

"I'm sick of fighting bad guys too. It's just that I'm forced to fight because if I don't, then there might be serious consequences."

Zero didn't answer back for a while. Instead, we just stared at each other. It felt somewhat intense, but somehow homosexual at the same time. After all, the only person I ever stared at in the face was Kuroyukihime.

"Alright," he finally said.

I was about to cheer for him because he had finally gotten past the mourning, but when I saw him stand up, I began to worry. What was he up to?

The wires that chained Zero to his prison snapped into pieces. A white light formed around Zero and then disappeared, revealing the Red Hero I was used to seeing. He pulled out his Z-Saber and glared at me with determination in his eyes.

"Wha-What are you doing?" I asked, moving back slowly.

"We're going to fight with our all," he simply answered.

"But why?"

"You are a Burst Linker. You were made to fight. Do you always ask why you're fighting your opponent when they challenge you to a duel?"

The old Zero I knew was back. I grinned, satisfied with what he had to say. Not only that, but I had always secretly hoped to fight Zero in a 1-on-1 match. But the question was... How do I fight?

"R.O.C.K. ON!" I shouted, hoping that would work even without a Biometal.

I was engulfed in a white light as usual and transformed into the Red Mega Man.

Although Zero and I looked different, we were one and the same. Although he never thought of himself as a Hero, I've always thought of both of us as the Red Hero, two halves of a coin. And I still believed that. I had no idea why we were fighting, but I went with it.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

I pulled out my Z-Saber in response. He stared at me with his determined eyes and dashed forward. At the exact same time, I did the same thing, shouting a battle cry.

We clashed blades for about a second and then Zero decided to move back a step or two. I chased after him and slashed wildly in his direction. Zero, being the master that he is at close quarters combat, deflected all of my hits with precision timing. I, too, was a master at close quarters combat, so this fight would be a close one.

Zero moved to the side and attempted to use Shippuuga, an extremely fast move that required the user to dash. I didn't see the attack coming and was hit in the side. I didn't let this stop me from attacking, which surprised Zero. I hit his open flank with a slash and continued to relentlessly assault him.

Zero jumped into the air and used the Buster Shot Gun and rained yellow energy shots down at me. I deflected all of them with my Z-Saber and propelled myself upwards with my dashing ability an instant before jumping, causing me to get more air. I flew over Zero and used Sentsuizan, a dangerous attack to any opponent below me in the air. I dashed down towards Zero and struck him in the chest with my Z-Saber. We crashed into the ground, but I left the small crater unscathed because Zero was the one who was hit.

It wasn't over yet. Zero leapt out of the crater and used Rakuretsuzan. I dashed to the side and struck him as he fell down towards me. He took the hit, but recovered quickly and struck me with a completely new weapon! He was somehow able to switch weapons fast enough for not even human eyes to see. This new weapon was a long lance-like weapon with a green triangular tip.

It didn't hit me once, or twice, but three times! I was struck in the side by his initial hit, then the lance extended a few inches and inflicted more damage, but before it could end, it extended a little bit more and dealt even more damage. I pulled the lance out of my side and dashed at Zero, who was wide open right now.

I was sure he was prepared to get hit by my Z-Saber, so I crouched down to the ground and kicked his legs, toppling him over. I immediately followed up with a Shoeunga, sending Zero into the air once more. I jumped up for the Entsuizan, but Zero knew this combo as much as Kuroyukihime, so he saw it coming. He countered my Entsuizan with his own, sending both of us flying in opposite directions.

Although I was quite tired from the battle, I didn't give up or give myself any time to rest. I continued to fight as hard as I could. I dashed once again towards Zero and he dashed towards me. I was about to use Shippuuga until Zero used his Shadow Dash technique, a move I had completely forgotten about! He dashed right through me like he was a shadow and shot me multiple times in the back with his Buster Shot Gun.

I whipped myself around and threw my Z-Saber at Zero, who was completely caught off guard. After all, I had never _ever _thrown my Z-Saber at any opponent. I didn't waste any time as he was stabbed in the chest. I dashed straight at him and uppercutted him with my fist, simultaneously pulling my Z-Saber out of his chest at the same time. Then I slashed him towards the ground with my Z-Saber hard enough for him to bounce on the ground.

I then executed the seven-hit combo that Omega Zero was known for using, Ranbu. After hitting Zero with the rising slash, I dashed backwards and used the final move to end the duel. It was something I often used to finish fights in the Accelerated World, especially during territory battles. It was the ultimate sword technique: Ittou Ryoudan: Genmurei. I sent two rather large crescent moon-shaped sonic booms at Zero as he was getting up. I expected a victory after sending these sonic booms at him. After all, it was nearly impossible to avoid.

But Zero was able to stop it. He pounded his fist to the ground and used Shin Messenkou, which was a move that encircled white pillars of light around its user, making him practically invincible. My Ittou Ryoudan hit the pillars and only broke them. But I took that window of opportunity to use an alternate form of Shippuuga. I sent a lightning fast red shadow at Zero and it slashed him, sending him into the air. Then I pounded my fist into the ground and used Rekkoha. Beams of light came crashing down on Zero, thus ending the duel.

Zero lay still on the ground with his armor battered and bruised like it was when he was held by the wires. He was even armless like before! I walked up to him and shifted my gaze down towards him.

"You won," he said.

"I guess," I said, shrugging. Then I sat down and faced Zero. "What was it all for?"

"I wanted to see if you really were my successor."

I smiled sadly and shook my head, "I'm not your successor, Zero. I'm your partner and friend. That's all I am and that's all I'll ever be."

Zero stared at me with his black eyes and tears began to form in them. I had never seen Zero cry, but I could have inferred that he cried when Ciel died.

"How can I be your friend when I am never there with you? How can I be your partner when I can never help you?"

"Zero…" I put my arms on his body and helped him sit. Then I embraced him tightly, "You're always here with me because you are a part of me. You're always helping me by encouraging me to fight!"

"That's right... What you say is true for me as well."

"So let's fight together, alright? No more crying on your own. No more feeling pain on your own. I'll try not to fight your friends, but know that if I do fight them, it's because I want them to realize that they are on the wrong side."

At that very moment in time, I did not think that Zero was very different from me. I believed that he was human as well, since he showed many distinct human qualities. He also reminded me of myself right then. I used to be like him, where I felt pain because there was no one there to me that it was alright. But because of the friends I've made, that was no longer an issue.

"Zero, let's finish was Ciel started," I said.

"Alright. I'll leave the fighting to you," he said after a few moments.

"My friends are your friends. Just remember that, okay?"

"Got it."

I detached myself from Zero and helped him up. He looked weird, standing without any arms. But that was alright. I liked him no matter how he looked. Although the way he keeps himself asleep looked really depressing.

"And uhm, one more thing," I added.

"What?" he said, looking at me with curiosity.

"Do you mind changing the scenery in here? It looks kind of depressing."

"Sure," he laughed. I hadn't seen him this happy… ever.

"Let's go make this world a better and peaceful one."

Zero nodded and walked back to his resting place. I stepped out of the room and walked through the long hallway full of voices. But this time, these voices were of recent events.

"What is this?! Zero being helpful?" gasped a voice that belonged to me.

"I've always been helpful, you twat. Do you want me to slice you?" replied Zero's voice.

As I walked along the hallway, I noticed that Zero had conversations with the Four Guardians as well. That is, before he met me. This must be nearing the end, or rather the beginning, of the hallway. Then I heard one last voice, and that was the dying voice of Ciel.

"Tell Zero… I loved him."

At the end of the hallway was a bright white light. I ran towards it and reached out my hand, knowing that Zero was following right beside me.

* * *

I ran up the stairs as quickly as possible. Vent and Model X were on the rooftop of the building, and that was probably where the Model W fragment was. I didn't have much time to stop Vent from doing whatever he wanted with it. I needed to destroy it soon!

I kicked the last door down and turned right to find Vent standing in front of a piece of Ragnarok. It was a white piece of debris with a purple crystal in the center. It looked like an eye on a piece of metal. Was this a Model W?

"Vent!" I called out.

"You guys just don't know when to give up, do you?" he said, turning around.

"You aren't going to touch that Model W. I'm going to destroy it!" I yelled at him.

"Why would you destroy it?"

"Because that's what Ciel wants."

After I mentioned Ciel's name, Vent's eyes showed one particular emotion for an instant and then flashed back to his hostile gaze. What was that emotion? Was it pain? Or was it love? Maybe a mixture of both, I assume.

"You don't know what Ciel wants. She's dead, after all," he replied coldly.

"I know exactly what she wants. She left messages for you and Lan."

"You... You're lying. You're trying to trick me, like he did!"

"Lan tried to trick you?" I asked, dumbfounded. Lan wouldn't possibly do that, right? He was trying to recruit Vent into our cause, wasn't he?

"No. Serpent was the one who tricked me."

"Who's Serpent?"

"A colleague of Ciel's. But you already knew that, didn't you?"

"N-No, I didn't..." I stammered. Vent was paranoid right now. Was it because of the influence of the Model W fragment?

"I see you were able to R.O.C.K. ON with Model Z. Are you and Lan the Biomatches, or was there an error and you're the real Biomatch?"

"I'm not exactly sure, but that's besides the point. I'm taking you down!"

I dashed towards Vent and drew my weapon, or rather, two weapons. Two Z-Saber blades sprouted from my rather bulky wrist-guards that were black because of the soot and smoke. Vent, expecting only one Saber, shot a Charged Shot from his arm cannon. I dashed to the side to dodge his attack and slashed his torso in an X formation, causing him to fly backwards.

Vent recovered in mid-air and shot yellow energy shots at me. They were almost as fast as the bullets in the Accelerated World, so deflecting them was a piece of cake. Unfortunately, I overestimated the weight of the Z-Sabers and slashed too quickly, missing some energy shots and getting struck by a few. I saw Vent grin as if he was going to defeat a newbie. Unfortunately for him, he was fighting the Black King. I didn't care if he lost a limb after this fight. All I wanted to do was to destroy that Model W!

We dashed towards each other once more and I used Death by Barraging, except that it didn't register as a 'special move' for Model Z. Instead, I just reenacted the special attack and struck Vent multiple times (even more so now that I understood the weight of the blades). Immediately after, I performed a back-flip, kicking him higher into the air. I jumped up and smashed him down into the building as hard as I could. He fell and collapsed through the floor.

I landed with a hint of satisfaction and victory. That wasn't too hard. The only reason Lan lost the fight was because of that aching pain in his chest. He would have won as easily as I did. I shifted my gaze towards the Model W fragment and dashed towards it. I ended up standing in front of it, trying to figure out where to strike this thing to destroy it in one blow.

"How do I destroy this thing?" I asked Model Z.

"Slice it into pieces," it simply answered.

Simple enough. As I was about to slice the Model W fragment to bits, I heard a battle cry from behind me and whipped my body around. A different person in purple armor stood tall with a scythe in one hand and Vent draped around his other shoulder. He had a helmet that somewhat resembled a skull and had a blue cape on. **(A/N: That's actually his hair.)** He then swung his scythe and a sonic-boom shot out with tremendous speed. I dodged to the side to avoid the attack and the sonic-boom bounced off of the Model W fragment.

"Who're you?" I asked the grim reaper.

"I'm Prometheus," he said with an evil grin. "I didn't expect the Red Mega Man to be a girl."

"Are you here for the Model W fragment?"

"Of course I am. HE needs them, you know."

"Who is this HE?"

"The one who's pulling the strings. We are all pieces in his little Game."

"Game? How can this be a game to anyone?!" I exclaimed.

"It's HIS Game. HIS Game of Destiny!" Prometheus shouted suddenly. "Now hand over that Model W fragment!"

Prometheus put Vent down and charged me with an evil look in his red eyes. I stood firm, determined to defeat this new and dangerous opponent.

[Database]

[Model W - A Biometal that contains the soul of Dr. Weil. It is known to cause malfunctions in machines, Neuro Linkers, and even the brains of humans.]

[Prometheus - A mysterious Mega Man who is permanently R.O.C.K.'d ON with a Model W fragment.]


	7. Chapter 6 - More Mysteries

I opened my eyes and found myself in Ciel's lab, lying down on the teleporter. The sounds of beeping computers echoed throughout the room. I got up, believing that Kuroyukihime was here, probably asleep somewhere because I had been out for so long.

"Kuroyukihime!" I called out. No answer. Was she somewhere else?

I walked around the floor and looked at a few more things to wait. After calling her name several times, I figured she wasn't in the building. Perhaps she was buying groceries or something? I went to the stairwell and climbed the stairs. Arriving back on the first floor, I noticed that the things we bought an hour or two ago were still on the couch. She wouldn't leave those, would she?

Before I could go back down to the lab, I heard the door handle move. Someone was trying to get in? Ciel's caretaker, maybe? I walked over to the door and opened it from the inside. I was surprised to find a rather large fellow standing in front of me. He had violet hair and eyes, with a masculine look and rather noticeable cheekbones…

"Who're you?" he asked me in suspicion.

"I'm Lan. A friend of Ciel's," I answered without hesitation.

"Ahh. I'm also a friend of hers. My name is Serpent."

"Nice to meet you." I shook his large hand, which crushed my smaller one as we shook hands.

"What're you doing here?" he asked.

"Well, that's a long story… Do you mind sitting down?" I asked.

"No, not at all. I have time."

I took the bags off of the couch and quickly told Serpent that my girlfriend bought them and that we were coming here just to check on some things.

"If you're a friend of Ciel's, you must know that she's dead… right?" I asked him.

"Yes. It was heartbreaking news," Serpent said, shifting his gaze towards the ground. I thought I saw him shudder, but perhaps I was imagining it.

"If you're a friend, do you know what she's been doing?" I asked.

"Yes. She was hunting down Model W."

"That's correct. She managed to destroy it, but then found out that it had created Model W fragments. So she set out to destroy those too, until she was brutally murdered…"

"There are Model W fragments?!" Serpent exclaimed, excited.

"Yeah. She never told you?" I grew suspicious of this Serpent. If Ciel didn't trust him enough to reveal that information to him, I shouldn't trust him too much either.

"No, she never told me this."

"Interesting. Well, my girlfriend and I were looking for a teleporter so we could go and destroy those fragments too, and we found one. It leads to several places that could potentially hold a Model W fragment."

"I see…" Serpent said. He stood up and faced the door.

"Are you leaving so soon?" I asked, getting up too. Was he going to tell his friends? Was he going to wait for me to leave and then sneak inside?

"I have to thank you. Lan, was it?"

"Yeah."

Serpent whipped around and pulled out a pistol and pointed it straight at my face. I instinctively reached for Model Z around my waist, but felt nothing there. Where did it go? Did I lose it downstairs?

"Dropped your own gun, eh?" he asked.

_Something like that, yeah. _I answered in my mind. "Maybe," I said.

"Like I was saying before, I have to thank you for the information. Now tell me more. How many Model Ws did you find?" he asked.

The situation right now was dire. I needed to make as much time as I could, as well as call for help. And being a Burst Linker, I had all the time in the world.

"Burst Link," I whispered.

The world around me turned blue as I accelerated. I reappeared as my school avatar, a copy of the original Zero without his helmet. I ran downstairs and into Ciel's lab to look for Model Z. I looked near the teleporter, but couldn't find it anywhere. Where did it go? Did I leave it back at the storage facility? Or did Kuroyukihime take it? But she couldn't use it since she wasn't Model Z's Biomatch.

Nevertheless, I had other ideas. I opened up the Brain Burst menu and opened up the Matching List submenu. I scrolled through the list until I found the person I needed. Then I pressed their name and requested a duel.

Instantly, I transformed into Cobalt Warrior/Blue Hero and reappeared on the _End of the Century_ stage. My opponent appeared in front of me and was surprised to see me.

"Lan? Why did you challenge me?" asked Sky Raker.

Sky Raker was a blue duel avatar who used to roll around on a wheelchair because she believed she could touch the sky if she cut off her legs. Unfortunately, she never did touch the sky in the Accelerated World. She believed that was her dream. But during the Rangarok incident, she realized that her dream was to fly in space. That was why she had her jet-pack. It was more suitable for space combat anyway. So after that, she grew her legs back and was a very formidable fighter in Nega Nebulous.

"I'm kind of in a dire situation and I need some help," I said nervously.

"What did you do this time? Did you blow up a school?" She was already scolding me.

"No! Nothing like that! It's just that… there's a man holding a gun to my face and I could be shot at any moment," I said the second part quite fast.

"Did you do something to him?" she asked, putting her arms on her hips.

"No."

"Did you do something bad?"

"No."

"Then why is he holding a gun to your face?"

"Fuuko, why was there a person trying to destroy the world one year ago? This guy is as crazy as Dr. Weil. Please come help me."

"Well, alright. Where are you right now?"

I sent her a message with Ciel's address. Sky Raker's eyes flashed, meaning that either she had something planned, or she was going to do something unexpected…

"I'm shopping right next to that place."

I stared at her for a few moments before falling to the ground. Of course she was. She and Kuroyukihime are best friends; they had an interest in the same things. Not to mention the fact that they had mirrored personalities. Kuroyukihime was quite assertive most of the time but also really kind. Fuuko was really kind and caring, but could get assertive if she needed to.

"That's terrific! Please buy a gun or something and shoot this guy!" I said, half-joking. If she had a gun, I'd definitely just let her shoot Serpent in the face.

"Lan, you know very well that I can't buy a gun."

"I was only joking about buying it."

"I know. Anyway, we should get out of here so I can come over. Stay alive, okay?"

"Yup. Please hurry."

I requested a draw and Fuuko accepted it. After a flash of white, I returned to the real world and Serpent was saying something that I didn't pick up.

"Uhm, can you repeat that?" I asked.

"Are you going deaf all of a sudden?" he laughed.

"It's the gun, it's making me nervous," I said quite fast, making it seem like I was nervous.

"My apologies. I need to have this thing out so you don't run away."

That's not the reason why you have that out. You have that out to scare the information out of me and then kill me afterwards so I don't tell anyone I told you this.

"Very well, I will repeat myself," he said with an evil smile. "How many Model Ws did you find?"

"A few." I wasn't going to give this guy an exact answer. I didn't know the exact number anyhow, but still.

"That's not an answer," he stated. He shot the ground near my foot as a warning shot. I didn't even flinch.

Although on the inside, I was shaking in my boots. Maybe Zero was consciously making sure my body wouldn't show any signs of fear? If so, thank you Zero.

"There's one in this building right now," I lied.

"Really? Are you sure?" he asked slowly.

"Yup."

"Lead me to it. Or I will shoot you."

Idiot, you'll shoot me whether or not I show you.

"Yes, of course. It's this way…" I said, slowly turning around.

A familiar sound pricked my ears. It was the sound of Fuuko walking. She had artificial legs, so they made noise whenever she approached. I've never dodged a bullet before, but this was probably going to be my first and only time I'll ever attempt to.

_The speed of a bullet fired from a pistol like his is about 700 kilometers per hour. If you use Physical Burst, the bullet speed will slow down by 10, meaning that you have to dodge an 70 kilometer per hour bullet. Even then, I don't think you can do it. Once again, I'll help you by boosting the acceleration time of Physical Burst to about 20 times. _Zero said in my mind.

Serpent didn't notice the sound and believed that it was something else entirely. I took the opportunity to whip myself back around and kick the gun out of his hands. My right leg connected with his right hand perfectly, but due to the body size ratio, my kick moved his arm but didn't drop his gun. Serpent reacted a little too slow and shot the ground.

"Why you-!" Serpent grunted as he recovered and pointed the gun at me.

"Physical Burst!" I commanded as he shot.

I jumped to the right immediately once I entered the state of acceleration, giving me enough time to dodge the bullet safely. The experience was quite amazing. I was able to see the bullet shoot straight out of the muzzle, and then see the muzzle flash. I became the first human being to ever dodge a bullet at close range.

"Wh-What is this?!" Serpent cried.

He was about to shoot another bullet, but the door opened and something quite tough slammed into his head, confusing him for a few seconds. Fuuko was standing right behind him with serious eyes and wielded a frying pan. She slammed the pan into the side of his face and knocked him over. For a girl, she was pretty strong. Then she kicked him in the groin with her artificial leg.

If this were a manga (and it was turning into one), Serpent would have gone flying into the wall and Fuuko would have jumped and kicked him into another room. But that didn't happen. Instead, Serpent put a pained expression on and went into a fetal position.

"Nice hit!" I cheered.

Fuuko hit him again in the head with the frying pan, hoping to knock him out. In manga, Serpent's head would have sunk into the floor. Then I would kick him down two more floors and then it'd be over for this bad guy. Unfortunately, this wasn't the action-packed manga I was looking for.

"Will you go unconscious already?" Fuuko muttered irritably. I've never seen this side of her before.

"He's pretty tough," I said. Then I noticed that he finally dropped the gun to hold his groin with his hands and grabbed the gun.

"Good thinking, Lan."

I pointed the gun at Serpent and thought about shooting him. After all, he was about to do something with the Model Ws. So why not kill him?

"Lan, you can't shoot him. He might have some useful information," Fuuko said.

"I'm not sure if holding a gun to his face is going to do anything. I mean, it's not like he'll talk. You don't _have _to talk to the guy who's interrogating you, you know. This isn't a poorly written children's book."

"First of all, I don't think there would be a person interrogating another person in a children's book," Fuuko sighed, "And second of all, he may give us what we want."

"Never!" Serpent yelled.

"See? Told you."

Fuuko walked back to Serpent and kicked him in the groin again. I wanted his eyes to pop out or him to go flying, but he just keeled over in pain on the ground. Well, at least I learned something. No matter how tough a male looks, you just gotta kick him in the balls to beat him.

"Will you tell us what we want now?" Fuuko asked Serpent.

"L-Like I… said… N-Never!"

"Wrong answer."

She kicked him in the balls again. I walked over to where she was and stood over Serpent.

"We can do this all day, you know," I said.

"Lan, if he doesn't answer our questions, I grant you permission to shoot him in the groin," she said in her normal and gentle voice.

That was the tipping point for Serpent.

"O-Okay! I-I'll tell you w-what you want!" he cried. "Just don't sh-shoot me th-there!"

Fuuko and I glanced at each other in satisfaction and proceeded with the interrogation.

* * *

I blocked Prometheus's initial strike with his scythe. But he was faster than I imagined him being and swung his scythe another direction and struck my side. I dashed out of the swing so I wouldn't get cut in half and attempted to cut Prometheus with my two blades. He dashed back and was engulfed in a purple flame. It disappeared and Prometheus was no longer there.

_Did he run away that quickly? The fight just began! _I thought to myself.

He reappeared in the air and charged down with his scythe down as well, creating a wall with his blade. I jumped to the side and Prometheus crashed down a floor. As he fell through the ground, purple fire sprouted out from where he fell and rained down on me. I didn't expect it, so I was hit by one of the flames. I felt the burning sensation all over my body, causing me to scream out in pain.

Prometheus crashed through the top floor again and landed with an evil smile on his face. He charged me again with his scythe acting as a wall. I couldn't cut through it, nor could I go head on without getting hurt again. So I dashed forward and moved slightly to the right to dodge his scythe. Prometheus predicted that and stopped dead in his tracks. I also predicted this, so I jumped into the air and drop kicked his head as hard as I could.

My dropkick landed successfully, toppling Prometheus over. I dashed forward and used one of Lan's favorite special attacks, Shoeunga. It looked kind of awkward since I was using two blades instead of just one. Despite this, the rising slash was equal in power and sent Prometheus into the air.

"Vorpal Strike!" I yelled out.

Vorpal Strike was an Incarnation attack that Black Lotus, my duel avatar, used. I wasn't sure if it was possible to use with Model Z, but since it gave me two blades and allowed me to use Death by Barraging, maybe it'll give me my Incarnation attacks too?

My right Z-Saber shot itself out and struck Prometheus in the chest. It then disappeared right as it struck him and reappeared back onto my right arm. I jumped into the air to slash Prometheus down with both of my Z-Sabers. However, despite taking a sword through the chest, Prometheus smiled evilly and disappeared right as I was about to slam my blades down on him.

Prometheus reappeared above me right as I landed back on the rooftop. His cape spread out into five ribbons and changed color into a disgusting yellow. He sent out four flaming skulls in different directions, none of them heading towards me. What was he up to? He was completely vulnerable, so I jumped up and slashed him multiple times with my double blades. But then I was struck by four purple flames that were shot out from somewhere faraway!

I felt the flames lick my face and burn my body as they went through me. I landed on the rooftop, exhausted and hot. It was too difficult to go on...

More flames came from the four flaming skulls from before and struck me again. I screamed in pain and fell flat to the ground, unable to move.

"The Red Mega Man has already fallen? That's too bad. Looks like I get my prize!" Prometheus laughed.

"N..No..." I gasped. I tried to raise my right arm, but it was useless. My body was too tired and too hurt to do anything.

"Pandora, extract the password data out of them," Prometheus said as he grabbed the Model W fragment.

"Of course..." said an emotionless female voice from behind me.

It took my all to turn my head and see a white Mega Man that held a rod and wore an egg-shaped helmet. The two ends of her helmet separated off and hovered over Vent and me. I felt it doing something to me, but I couldn't tell from my angle of view. I didn't feel any pain, so she wasn't ending my life... yet.

"Why... are you..." I tried to ask.

"Letting you live? Because your role in this Game of Destiny is to fight. If you somehow manage to survive until the end, then you'll know who you really are... And perhaps all there is to know about the world!" Prometheus said.

_I don't understand. _I said in my mind. I couldn't move my mouth anymore. My vision was getting dark and foggy.

_Rest. _Model Z said. _Don't overexert yourself. You don't want to die after saving Lan. _

I followed Model Z's advice and fell into a deep slumber, despite the raging fire around me.

[Database]

[Pandora - A mysterious Mega Man who is permanently R.O.C.K.'d ON with Model W. She's related to Prometheus.]

[Serpent - A colleague of Ciel's. He could be related to how she died.]

[Kurasaki Fuuko - Also known as Sky Raker in the Accelerated World. She's Kuroyukihime's best friend and vice-versa. She cares deeply for others, even if they are people she just met.]


	8. Chapter 7 - Ciel's Sister

Serpent answered our questions quite fast. Perhaps it was due to the fact that if he didn't, his balls would've gotten blown off. Fuuko and I learned many more things about Model W and what its true purpose is.

Model W was made from the soul of Dr. Weil and the pieces of Ragnarok. That much we (mostly Kuroyukihime and I) knew. However, we didn't know that the Pseudoroids were a product of Model W. That meant that the Pseudoroid Buckfire I fought earlier this week was made from a Model W fragment.

We also learned that when all of the Model W fragments were combined into one "core", similar to the Ragnarok Core, it would create a Biometal for a Chosen One (Serpent didn't know that Vent and I were the Chosen Ones) to use to either save or destroy the world. Of course, I was going to save it. But it was Model W, meaning that Dr. Weil existed inside of that thing. Did I really want to use the power of an evil man that once tried to destroy the world? Well, Zero and I defeated him once before, so we have the capability to defeat him again.

I left Fuuko to deal with Serpent and went to go check back on Kuroyukihime. I arrived at the teleporter and transported to the last known location. The worst-case scenarios went through my mind. Maybe she was killed while trying to destroy the Model W fragment? Vent wouldn't kill her. Would he?

_I'm sure she's done destroying the Model W fragment and is heading back to the teleporter, _Zero said in my mind.

_Probably. We'll see._ I teleported back to the storage facility that I was just at moments ago and found that it was much different than before. It was all lit up, burning hot, and smoky. Despite all of this, I ran out of the room and headed to where Kuroyukihime was. But where exactly was she?

I opened up my Neuro Linker HUD as I ran upstairs. I looked for Kuroyukihime's Linker ID and tapped on it. I then scanned for it with a program that we used whenever we got lost or something like this ever happened. Her location was pinpointed above me on my HUD with a red waypoint. I ran towards it as fast as I could through the falling burning building pieces. I began to cough after a few minutes because of all of the smoke.

After a few minutes of climbing stairs and coughing violently, I made it to the rooftop and found Kuroyukihime, who was R.O.C.K.'d ON with Model Z, lying near Vent, who was still R.O.C.K.'d ON with Model X. It looks like they fought quite hard, since they both looked extremely tired and hurt.

"Kuroyukihime!" I cried as I ran towards her. I shook her as hard as I could, but she didn't get up.

"You're finally here," Model Z said. "She's not dead. She'll live even if revert her back."

"Good. Let me use your power so I can save both of my friends!" I said.

"Yes, of course."

Model Z changed Kuroyukihime back to her normal form and hovered towards me. I grabbed it with my right hand and called out at the top of my lungs.

"R.O.C.K. ON!"

I transformed into the Red Hero/Mega Man once more and carried Kuroyukihime on my back. I stared at Vent and wondered what I should do with him.

"Model X, could you change him back to his human state so I can carry him better?" I asked Model X, who I was sure could hear me.

"Yes. I will do that," Model X replied. Almost immediately, Vent glowed white and returned back to his normal state with Model X floating above him.

"Let's go," I said, grabbing Vent with my left hand.

I put them on my shoulders so it was easier. I then jumped down the giant hole that was in the center of the rooftop. It went down a few floors, which was really convenient. I used the thrusters in my boots to land softly so Vent and Kuroyukihime's bodies wouldn't jostled around after landing.

After a few minutes of descending as carefully as I could, I made it back to the first floor and dashed past all of the burning debris. Making it back to the teleporter with enough time to spare, I attempted to turn it on, but found that it needed some more time to cool down.

"Rats!" I cursed.

"Maybe if we could power it up somehow…" Model X said.

"Model Z, is my form capable of performing elemental attacks?" I asked.

"No. I'm sorry," Model Z answered.

I put my friends down in a safe place and draped cloth over their mouths so they wouldn't breathe in so much smoke. Then I walked over to the teleporter and pondered over what I could do.

"Maybe… we could release a huge burst of power?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" Model Z asked.

I glanced over at Model X, who floated near me. I reached my right hand out and it floated into it.

"Can I use two Biometals?"

"Lan, there will be much more strain put onto you if you use Double R.O.C.K. ON," Model X said. "I also can't guarantee that it will work."

"I'll be fine. I also think that it will work. After all, Zero had a strong connection with X, right?"

I returned to normal as Model Z cancelled the original transformation and appeared in my left hand. I glanced at the two Biometals and nodded after a few moments.

"Double… R.O.C.K. ON!" I yelled loudly, raising both the Biometals into the air.

For a few moments, nothing happened. I was about to become discouraged until I heard both of the Biometals recite the already familiar lines.

"Biolink established. R.O.C.K. system, online!" they recited at the same time.

I felt a surge of power flow through my entire body, as well as a small amount of pain that had never appeared before. Model X was right; my body was going through more stress from a Double R.O.C.K. ON. It was already weak from the fight with Vent, so who knew if the transformation was even going to be successful?

A bright white light filled my vision, just like with my first transformation. After a few moments, the white light disappeared and the teleporter began to make some noise. I hurried over to where Kuroyukihime and Vent was and carried them back onto the teleporter. I activated it and transported us back to Ciel's lab just as a burning steel beam fell towards us.

We reappeared safely back at Ciel's lab. I was quite surprised that the teleporter was able to support three people. Maybe it was because of the Double R.O.C.K. ON's surge of power.

That was when I took a good look at myself. I still looked like Zero for some reason, retaining the red armor. The visor was replaced by a helmet, probably looking like Zero as well. I felt my backside and touched hair... Wait, what? Hair?!

"So Model X gives Model Z the ability to grow artificial hair?" I asked. That was kind of lame, not gonna lie.

"Well, if you want to put it that way..." Model X began to say.

I sighed and reverted back to my normal form. I returned Model X to Vent and went back upstairs to check on Fuuko and Serpent. Hopefully he didn't trick her somehow and break out, or somehow got his gun back and is now threatening her...

I hurried and entered the main floor. In front of me was Fuuko and another girl. Where'd Serpent go? Did he transform into that girl to trick Fuuko into escaping?

"Fuuko, where did Serpent go?" I asked her.

"I let him go," she replied simply.

I stared at her blankly, making sure I heard her correctly. She let him go...?

"What?!" I said suddenly. "Why?!"

"He didn't have his gun and he gave us what we wanted. There was no reason to keep him hostage."

"You do realize that he might go and report to his higher-ups and say that he found two kids that had knowledge on the Model W fragments?"

"I did realize that, yes. You have the power to fight them, though."

"That's true... But what if they have an army?"

"We'll build our own."

"You have this all planned out, don't you?" I asked, facepalming. "Wait, you don't even know what's happening."

"She filled me on everything," Fuuko said, pointing to the blonde girl that was standing in front of her.

She, like Ciel, wore a pink outfit. She looked like an officer or something, but that feeling went away when I noticed that she was holding a stuffed animal. She wore a pink hat and a pink coat that kind of reminded me of Zero's coat.

"Uhm, hello there. Who are you?" I greeted awkwardly. I made a bad first impression, didn't I?

"My name is Prairie. I've been doing the research on Model W after Onee-chan died," she greeted back with a smile.

"Onee-chan? Ciel was your sister?" I didn't think Ciel had any siblings, since she never talked about her family.

"Not biologically. She found me when I was little and I guess I just found myself liking her a lot."

"I see. She was that important to you, huh..." I said, averting my gaze. I couldn't tell her that it was my fault that Ciel was dead. If I had arrived faster, maybe I could have died instead of Ciel.

_Zero, your depressing thoughts are hitting me again, _I silently told Zero. He didn't respond back.

"You must be someone important to her too if you know where she lived," Prairie said.

"Yeah, I guess I was. I mean, I helped her save the world."

"Were you her… her lover?" Prairie asked awkwardly.

"No," I laughed. But after thinking for a second, I added, "Well, in a strange way, I could say yes."

Fuuko widened her eyes and stared at me in silence. She _may_ have taken that the wrong way.

"What do you mean?" Prairie asked.

"Well, it's kind of hard to explain. But to put it simply: I'm a body that contains two people."

"… You have a split personality?" the tone in her voice was a worried one.

"No, no! Like I said, it's hard to explain…"

Then I remembered that Kuroyukihime and Vent were still downstairs. I told Prairie and Fuuko this and Fuuko suggested that we should introduce Prairie to them if they were awake. And if they weren't awake, then we'd have to find something else to do until then.

So we headed back downstairs and into Ciel's lab. Along the way, I asked Prairie one small question I had ever since I entered the lab.

"Were you the one cleaning up the place after Ciel died?" I asked.

"Yes. Were you here when she died?" Prairie replied.

"Yeah. She… died in front of my eyes," I said softly, averting her gaze.

"Don't blame yourself. It's not your fault she was murdered," Prairie said slowly. Fuuko agreed with her by putting her hand on my shoulder.

I felt relieved that I wasn't the one to blame for, but I still felt depressed. Although it was mostly Zero that was doing that to me.

We finally made it to the floor where Ciel's actual lab was. Making it inside, I showed them where I put Kuroyukihime and Vent. Kuroyukihime was just waking up while Vent was still out cold with Model X sitting on top of his chest.

"Kuroyukihime? Are you awake?" I asked, gently shaking her.

"Uhn… Lan? Is that you?" she asked sleepily.

"Rest easy. You just woke up from a long fight."

I helped her up and carried her over to where Fuuko and Prairie was. They were sitting on chairs in what seemed like a kitchen (to be honest it was only like a kitchen because there was a coffee maker) and pulled out three more chairs for the rest of us. I put Kuroyukihime down next to Fuuko and sat down next to her.

Then I went back to Vent and carried him over too, just in case he woke up. I mean, if he woke up in front of a bunch of beautiful girls, he wouldn't run away, would he? Well, once he saw me, we'd probably start fighting again. I wanted to avoid that as much as possible, though.

"Where am I?" Kuroyukihime asked. She was still half-asleep.

"Back in Ciel's lab. You're safe now, Saa-chan," Fuuko answered.

Kuroyukihime looked around and noticed Prairie sitting next to her. She sat up straight in alarm and pointed a shaky finger at her.

"C...Ciel?"

"Wrong! I'm Prairie, a close friend of Ciel's," Prairie answered playfully.

"Oh," Kuroyukihime sighed. She probably thought that Ciel's ghost had appeared or something.

Then Vent yawned loudly as he woke up from his slumber. I wonder how long he had fought for. He should have received the Biometal at the same time as me, but I hardly ever used it. Was Vent on the hunt for Model Ws too?

"Ahh, you're awake, Vent," Prairie said.

"Uhn... Hmm. Hello there Prairie," Vent greeted with a smile. Then he looked around the room and laid his eyes on me. His hand reached for Model X and he stood up suddenly.

"Relax, Vent. If I was here to kill you, you'd be dead by now," I said coolly.

"Pr-Prairie! Why are you affiliating yourself with these people?"

_Why are we the bad guys now? _I asked silently with annoyance.

_We should listen to his motives for wanting the Model W fragment, _Zero said.

"Because they want to continue what Onee-chan started," Prairie answered.

"Why did you want the Model W to yourself?" I asked Vent.

Vent averted my gaze and stared at the ground. Model X hovered behind him as Vent hesitated to speak.

And finally, "I lost my mother during the Ragnarok incident. Not only that, but I couldn't protect Ciel. So when I learned that she died, I promised myself to protect everyone."

"Vent, we have to do that together," Kuroyukihime said.

"I pursued Model W because of Model X's special ability," Vent continued, as if Kuroyukihime hadn't spoken at all. "The ability to copy a defeated Biometal's data. If I had the power of Model W, I could defeat the guy behind the Game of Destiny and protect everyone."

"Game of Destiny? What's that?" I asked.

"It's where all of the Mega Men fight to see who's the last man standing. And whoever is the last man standing gets to meet the guy behind it all," Vent answered.

"'If you somehow manage to survive until the end, then you'll know who you really are, and perhaps all there is to know about the world,' is what Prometheus told me," Kuroyukihime added.

"What could this all mean?" Prairie asked.

Nobody had an answer for that. The Game of Destiny was certainly no game, that's for sure. Human lives were at hand, and toying with them made you just as bad as Dr. Weil, who tried to destroy the world. Maybe there was a way to get to the guy pulling the strings without participating in the Game...

"Well, we can figure it out later. I'm sure you all had a rough day," Prairie said, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, that's right. We should get some rest and prepare for another fight another day," I said, getting up.

We said our farewells and left. Fuuko, Kuroyukihime, and I went back to my house. Vent and Prairie decided to stay in Ciel's home for a bit longer. As we walked back to my place, I suddenly felt very tired and muscle sores. I guess the fatigue finally caught up to me.

"Sachiko, I think we forgot our shopping bags," I said suddenly. I knew we were forgetting something.

"Don't worry, I have them!" Fuuko said, popping into my field of view. She was holding several bags full of girl things.

"Let me take some of them," I offered.

"You look too tired to do anything right now," Fuuko chuckled.

That was true. I smiled in response and continued to walk forward. Kuroyukihime was also tired, so she leaned on my shoulder as we walked back home. I dropped her off at her house and had Fuuko take care of the shopping bags.

I arrived home with the sun setting on the horizon. To think that Sachiko and I only went to Ciel's place to look for a machine to transport us ridiculous distances in a short amount of time. We were successful, but at what cost?

"I think I'm forgetting Model Z now," I said, suddenly remembering more things I may have forgotten about.

"I"m right here," Model Z said. I glanced down and found it in my waist, where I had always put it.

"I must be really tired," I muttered to myself.

_Rest easy. The real fight starts another day, _Zero reassured.

I entered my room and slammed my face into the bed and instantly fell asleep. I didn't even worry about school. Why worry about that when the world is at stake... _again. _


	9. Chapter 8 - The Wind Mega Man

Over the course of one week, Kuroyukihime and I traveled across Japan to rid the country of Model Ws. We went to Ciel's lab after school and met Prairie and Vent there. To get around the country, we used the teleporter to move from place to place. Although I had a Model W tracker in my Neuro Linker, we found no Model Ws, which was incredibly odd.

After looking at it for a bit, I realized that it wasn't updating the locations at all. The date that was last scanned was over two weeks ago! Possibly right before Ciel died. I looked as hard as I could for a way to rescan to look for the remaining Model Ws, but was unable to find a way. Although this would hinder us a little, we still had the possible locations of all Model Ws down.

On the third week after Ciel's death, Kuroyukihime and I traveled to a power plant. It was abandoned and was somewhere in the southeast corner of Japan. The usual routine was to let the Biometal lead the way if it found any traces of other Biometals. If not, we looked on our own. There was a possibility that the Model Ws could have some sort of hiding ability from being detected by the other Biometals.

The inside of the nuclear power plant smelled old and musty, indicating that was very old. Machines were rusted and falling apart, some walls were cracked fragile, and the stairs felt like they could shatter at any moment. Still, we continued to search the power plant.

"I can sense Biometal," Model Z said suddenly.

"Where?" We both asked at the same time.

"I'll set a waypoint."

We nodded and R.O.C.K.'d ON with Model Z. This worked by having both Kuroyukihime and me shout R.O.C.K. ON! while we both touched the Biometal. Since she was also a Biomatch for Model Z, this actually worked. The only downside to this was that we couldn't use Model Z to its full potential.

A red waypoint appeared on our HUDs and we followed it as quietly as possible. If a Model W was here, then Prometheus and/or Pandora were bound to be here.

The strange thing about the past two weeks was that we never found any other Mega Men on our hunt for the Model Ws. Perhaps they were also getting rid of them? If that was the case, it made our job much easier.

Kuroyukihime and I dashed into a room and found many barrels of nuclear waste everywhere. Since we were transformed into the Red Mega Man, we weren't harmed by any type of radiation. Not physically or mentally, anyway. The Biometal could get damaged and would need repairs. Fortunately, Ciel's lab had tools to repair Biometal, so if it got damaged during a mission, Prairie could get it fixed up.

The waypoint pointed upstairs. Of course. All of the fighting happens on the rooftop. We followed it with haste and made our way to the top floor of the power plant, proving me wrong. What we found was quite a shocker.

In the large floor was a bunch of worn down machines that didn't look operable anymore. But that wasn't the sight that shocked us. What surprised us was the green figure holding a Model W fragment. The fragment looked like a mini Dr. Weil, which was both scary and gross.

The green figure turned around and stared at us with red eyes. (I'm an expert at detecting bad guys and I knew this guy was obviously a bad guy. You never trust anyone with red eyes!) He wore a long green jacket, had greenish-grey hair, and white pants. Why was everyone obsessed with one color?

"My, my. I wasn't informed of _two _Red Mega Men," he said in a hostile tone.

"Hand over the Model W," I said calmly.

"You want this?" he asked, holding up the Model W. "You'll have to fight for it."

"Who are you?" Kuroyukihime asked.

"I am Aeolus, the Wind Mega Man."

He pulled out a sheathed sword and held it with both of his hands. On the sword was a green Biometal that kind of looked like Sage Harpuia. I mean, it was green, so it had to be him, right?

"R.O.C.K. ON!" Aeolus shouted.

A bolt of pink lightning came down and struck him as he was encircled by a small tornado (Why weren't our transformations _that_ cool?!). After a few moments, he transformed into a green Mega Man that resembled Harpuia. His helmet was a bit smaller, though. Those fins weren't giant ones like before. He also had a noticeable jetpack on his back with small wings.

"I can take you both on," he said as he pulled out his sonic blades.

Kuroyukihime and I fought together all the time in the Accelerated World, so when we fought together we almost always won. Our bodies and minds were synced once we entered the battle. Unfortunately, we couldn't go all out because we didn't have it in us to kill another human being.

Aeolus dashed at us at a terrifying speed. With the help of his jet pack, he was able to zoom right through us in less than half a second. Right as we turned around, Aeolus was already coming back with his blades out. I dashed to the left as fast as my reaction time could permit and narrowly dodged one of his sonic blades. Kuroyukihime wasn't as lucky and was struck in the abdomen.

I pulled out my Z-Saber and tried to chase Aeolus, but he was far too fast. He zoomed to the other side of the room and performed a triple slash with both of his blades, sending out pink sonic booms at the same time. These were a bit slower, so I was able to block them without missing. I slashed one away and felt its immense power. How was it that his attacks were so powerful? Was it because of the Model W?

Kuroyukihime whipped out her double Z-Sabers and dashed towards Aeolus. Unfortunately, she was too slow and was struck by Aeolus flying through the air. I tried to intercept him as he flew by Kuroyukihime, but he saw it coming and slashed me away. Once again, his blow was extremely powerful and knocked me into a machine, hurting all over. What the hell was going on?

A second or two later and Kuroyukihime crashed into a machine right next to me. The battle just barely started and we were already losing! Despite our constant victories in the Accelerated World, our abilities didn't transfer to our real bodies. Or perhaps they did and that Aeolus had much more experience than us.

"This is the Red Mega Man in action? You're so weak and slow!" Aeolus sneered.

As we attempted to get back up, he sent tornadoes at us. I figured that they would just blow us away, but they didn't do that. Instead, they hit us and paralyzed us with a burning shock. Not only that, but the machines we flew into came to life as electricity flowed through them again, causing them to electrify us as well. What were we supposed to do in a situation like this?

Through sheer willpower, I pulled myself out of the machine and gasped for air as I stood shakily. I shifted my gaze towards Kuroyukihime and pulled her out with slight difficulty. We were already weak from the fight. Were we going to continue, or were we going to let our enemy take the Model W from us?

"Let's... stop..." Kuroyukihime gasped.

I set Kuroyukihime down in a safe corner and returned my gaze back to Aeolus. I was completely focused on taking him out now. I wasn't scared of hurting him, because he wasn't scared of hurting us. This was a real fight. Whoever won would be the one to stay alive.

"The real fight begins now," I said confidently as I whipped out my Z-Saber.

"I don't want to be disappointed," Aeolus replied with an evil smile.

He roared and crossed his two sonic blades, a move I was familiar with. Pink bolts of lightning came from above and destroyed the rooftop, causing it to crumble to dust and reveal the dark cloudy sky. More bolts of lightning came down, but I was ready for it.

"Physical Burst!" I commanded.

I used the command to dodge the bolts of lightning that came down with ease. Aeolus was shocked (no pun intended) to see me dodge his lightning bolts. After all, if I couldn't dodge him, how could I dodge even lightning? Granted his lightning bolts came down slower than normal lightning.

Seizing the opportunity, I dashed towards Aeolus and attempted to slash him. But he knew what was coming and dashed away. I used Physical Burst again to speed myself up and slash his body as he flew by, which caused him to fly upwards. I jumped and used Sentsuizan, sending him to the ground and creating a rather large hole on the top floor.

"How...?!" he grunted as I got off of him.

"You wouldn't understand even if I explained it to you," I answered. "Now give me that Model W fragment."

He got back up and laughed. "You seriously think I'll hand this over to you? Never!"

He dashed at me with lightning speed again, but I was quicker. I accelerated and dodged his attack with ease. I did the maneuver for Ittou Ryoudan: Genmurei, but sent out nothing. I realized my mistake too late and Aeolus stabbed me with both of his blades. Then he threw me upwards and sent tornadoes in my direction. I air-dashed to the side and was hit by only one tornado, causing me to fall down and hit the ground on the top floor hard. I was hurting all over mostly because of the tornado, but also because he had stabbed me. I hadn't felt pain like this in a long time.

As I laid down on the ground gasping for air, Aeolus flew back up to the floor and stood over me.

"The Red Mega Man... To live or to die?" he asked mostly himself.

"He's... going to live... Take me instead..." said a hurt female voice.

"Kuroyukihime...!" I gasped.

"Very well then," Aeolus said. He dashed to Kuroyukihime and pulled her up by her hair. Then he sent his sonic blade flying towards her neck.

"Stop," said a familiar voice.

A rather large figure fell down and stood tall. My vision was getting blurry, but I noticed the familiar features...

"Ser...pent," I said weakly.

"Ahh, look at how the mighty Lan has fallen," he said as he stood over me. I could see the hatred in his eyes. Was he going to blow my balls off now?

"What are you doing here?" Aeolus asked in a hostile tone.

"This is my command: Do not kill the girl. We're taking her."

"Fine. I don't see why we can't kill her to get this Game over with."

"You're... pulling the strings...?" I asked Serpent.

"Hahaha! Not quite. You see, I'm a participant in the Game of Destiny too..." he replied.

"Then... why not kill us?"

"Because you are the final key for awakening Model W."

"..._What?!_"

"Let's go, Aeolus," Serpent said as he turned away. Aeolus carried Kuroyukihime with a sonic blade still on her neck.

_Model Z. Please protect her, _I said silently.

_If you want me to, I will. But this will split the Biometal, making two Model Zs. As I have stated before, you will not be able to use me to my full potential, _Model Z responded.

_That's fine! Just protect her!_

_As you wish._

Aeolus and Serpent jumped onto the collapsed roof and entered a helicopter with Kuroyukihime hostage. I couldn't do anything. I was powerless once more. Although I was dressed up as the Red Hero, I was clearly not him. That was Zero. He's the real Red Hero.

_**We** are the Red Hero. Don't ever forget that, _Zero replied.

That's right. We were one now. But that didn't hide the fact that I was powerless once again. I pounded my fist the floor as hard as I could in frustration. Unfortunately, I was still unaware of how strong I was and broke the floor and fell through it. I landed hard on my face on the floor below and felt really dizzy.

"Dammit..." I cursed quietly.

I opened up my Neuro Linker's HUD and tapped on Prairie's ID. I couldn't really move, so I had to call for Vent to pick me up.

"Yes Lan? Were you successful in destroying a Model W?" Prairie said, sounding cheerful.

"I need some assistance. Bring Vent," I said with a glum tone.

"Oh... Is Kuroyukihime okay?"

"Bring Vent."

* * *

I made it back to Ciel's lab with the help of Vent. To make things faster, he also Double R.O.C.K.'d ON to make the teleporter work again, although it created less of a power surge this time (probably because Model Z was split in half). After getting patched up, I told Prairie and Vent what happened earlier. About Aeolus being extremely powerful, about Serpent, and Kuroyukihime's kidnapping.

"Model Z was also split in half so Kuroyukihime could have some protection," I ended.

"Are you insane?! They could damage that Model Z or do some strange things to it!" Vent scolded.

"Relax, Vent," Prairie said gently. "But he's right. We can't afford to lose any Biometals."

"It's only half," I argued. "They can't do much with that."

Vent and Prairie exchanged glances and sighed. I understood what they were feeling. We had lost a valuable companion (well, I lost my girlfriend) and half a valuable Biometal. We were behind compared to Serpent, who had control over more Model Ws, as well as Model H and now half of Model Z. We haven't destroyed a single Model W yet.

"I'm going to the Kirigaya's," I said as I got up.

"How are you going to explain this to them? Their daughter is missing because she unwillingly took part of a madman's ridiculous Game?" Vent said.

"What else can I say?!" I said back angrily.

"Stop fighting, you two," Prairie interjected.

I sighed again and sat back down. What exactly was I going to tell her parents? Would they even believe something as ridiculous as this? After all, they were adults and lived in the real world. They didn't have any time for crazy stories.

"I'll think about your story for a bit longer, Lan," Prairie said. "Until then, stay safe. Your Model Z is weaker now, so be careful."

"Alright. I'll see you again another day," I said quietly. I walked out of the lab and climbed the stairs slowly. I was just stabbed in the body by two blades earlier, I had to take it easy.

Exiting Ciel's place, I made my way to where Kuroyukihime lived. Would her family members believe me? At the very least, I had to tell Fuuko what happened. As I walked to the Kirigaya's, I called Fuuko and filled her in.

"I'm sorry..." Fuuko said quietly after I finished.

"Don't be. You should be glad you're not taking part in the Game of Destiny," I said.

"Stay strong, Lan. As long as you keep fighting, you will be able to win Saa-chan back. You _are _the Red Hero, after all."

"I don't feel like a Hero right now."

"The Hero of a story always faces hardships on the way to victory. Don't worry about it."

"Alright. Alright! Thanks, Fuuko," I said, happier.

"Don't worry about it. And about Saa-chan's family, I think they will believe you. After all, they kind of went through the same thing at a young age."

"A-Are you sure?"

"Trust me."

And so I did. We hung up after I thanked her again. If she said that it'll be alright in the end, then I'll believe her. Fuuko was my best friend as well as Kuroyukihime's. If I couldn't trust her, I couldn't trust anyone.

I knocked on the door that led to the Kirigaya's house. After a few moments, the door opened and Sachiko's mother, Kirigaya Asuna, opened the door. She was a beautiful mother, sharing Sachiko's almond brown eyes (except that Sachiko's were tinged with scarlet). She looked happy to see me, as always. I entered the house and sat down on the living room couch, where Sachiko's father, Kirigaya Kazuto, was reading something on his Neuro Linker's HUD. He shared Sachiko's black hair (and her interest in the color black in general).

"Kazuto-san, I have to tell you something," I said as I sat down next to him.

"Hmm? Are you planning on marrying our Saa-chan already?" he joked.

"U-Uhm, n-no. It's n-not that," I stuttered embarrassingly. Was I going to have to do that at one point in the future?

"Well then, what is it? Is it the reason why Saa-chan with you?" he asked seriously this time.

"Y-Yeah. W-Well..." I said nervously.

"Go on with it. I'll believe you," he said as he faced me with serious black eyes.

"Sh-She's unwillingly participating in a madman's game. A game where there are several other people fighting each other to win... something."

"I see..."

"I'm playing this game too. She was kidnapped just an hour ago," I added hastily.

Kazuto glanced at Asuna and it looked like they understood. Perhaps these were the kind of adults that understood children the best. I wonder, what were they like as kids?

"I understand. Win and bring back our Saa-chan!" Kazuto said, patting me on the shoulder.

"Y-Yeah, I will... Wait, what?" I said, confused.

"We understand what you're going through. It may be something bigger than what we think, but we know you'll pull out of it," Asuna said.

I was suddenly very happy and hopeful because Sachiko's parents understood. They believed in me. This Game was going to end without a proper victor, because I was going to stop it from happening. I was going to destroy the Model W fragments that remained as well. I'm going to do this. Believe in me, Ciel! Everyone!

[Database]

[Aeolus - The Biomatch for Model H. He believes he is better than others and is a perfectionist.]

[Kirigaya Kazuto - The father of Kirigaya Sachiko {aka Kuroyukihime}. Survivor and hero of the Sword Art Online incident that happened over twenty years ago.]

[Kirigaya Asuna - The mother of Kirigaya Sachiko {aka Kuroyukihime}. Survivor of the Sword Art Online incident that happened over twenty years ago.]


	10. Chapter 9 - Reunion

Three days went by. I was going to school on a regular basis, but it was getting harder and harder to focus in class. I was distracted by the fact that Kuroyukihime could be dead by now or that there were Model Ws to destroy and I was wasting too much time. It was a strange behavior that the teachers haven't seen before.

"Are you okay?" asked my third period teacher when she caught me staring out the window.

"Yeah. Don't worry about it," I said reassuringly. There was no point in explaining it to innocent people.

Speaking of innocent people, there have been several reports of missing people. I've seen the list and the description of each person and found that none of them were connected in any way. It was completely random. Of course, the authorities were stuck in front of a brick wall. A brick wall with dangerous things behind it, anyway. I knew exactly what was going on.

These people were being taken away for a purpose I didn't know exactly, just like how Kuroyukihime was taken away. Perhaps Serpent needed them for some kind of scheme, but he wouldn't do it without me, since I was the 'final key' to unlocking Model W. What he said that day tormented me for the rest of the week. If I was the final key, would Ciel want me dead so I could save the world?

I received a call from Prairie, which shattered my thoughts.

"Lan, I figured something out. I suggest you come to the lab," was all she said.

"Alright," I replied emotionlessly.

Although the Kirigaya's gave me hope, I walked on aimlessly. Where was I supposed to go? What could I do? The good guys were losing to the bad guys right now. Serpent and his team probably had everything he needed to fulfill his mad plan.

I walked through the bustling streets on the way to Ciel's lab. I walked past children talking excitedly to one another, past adults looking at their Neuro Linker's HUDs, and past a familiar figure…

"Kuroyukihime…?" I gasped out as she walked past me.

"Hmm?" the girl turned and revealed that she was certainly not Kuroyukihime.

"Oh, sorry. I thought you were someone else," I said.

"A friend of yours missing?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"Same here. But she's a strong girl, so I think she'll be able to come back."

I didn't harbor the same feelings. I knew Kuroyukihime was strong, but she wasn't strong enough to defeat Aeolus. What were the chances that she was strong enough to escape alive?

"Sorry for taking up your time," I apologized.

"NP," she said. That was an acronym for 'No Problem' for games. Why did she say that out loud just now?

I continued on my way to Ciel's lab and didn't bump into anyone else.

I entered the lab and found Prairie scrolling through her Neuro Linker. I sat down next to her and she jumped in surprise.

"Sorry," I apologized.

"No, it's all right. I was just really focused, that's all," she said quickly.

"So? What'd you call me over for?"

"After looking through Ciel's notes, I've figured out a few things, like what the Game of Destiny could be about."

"Alright. I'm all ears."

"According to Ciel's most recent notes, she talks about Model W having a 'voice' that speaks to her. She didn't catch much, but what she did catch she recorded it down. She said it spoke of something called the 'destiny of destruction' which could be related to the Game of Destiny."

Prairie scrolled through her Neuro Linker again before speaking.

"And I have a good guess of why Aeolus was so powerful when you fought him. Ciel's notes indicate that she made the Biometals _replicas _of the Legendary Heroes. She sent the Biometals to those who had the _original _data of the Legendary Heroes. So if it were possible…"

"The original data could be transferred into the Biometal, thus transforming the user into the original Legendary Hero…" I finished for her.

This made sense. One year ago, before the threat of Weil was revealed, I encountered the Four Guardians and X in the Accelerated World. They and I were the only duel avatars that broke the rules of the Accelerated World, and that was because we had the original data of the Legendary Heroes embedded into our Brain Burst program, which overrided the duel avatar data that Brain Burst developed for us personally. This was basically the same thing, except that it occurred in the real world.

"Not exactly. It gives the user the full powers of the original Legendary Hero, not the form," Prairie corrected.

That also made sense, since Aeolus didn't look exactly like the Harpuia I remembered.

"So if I put the original Zero data into Model Z, then I'll be at full power again?" I asked.

"Perhaps. Your Biometal is split into two pieces, so it might not work."

"We have to try it."

"I'll see what I can do. Please wait here."

Prairie got up and walked over to one of the many computers that Ciel used to use in the lab. I looked around the floor and walked around impatiently. If I were to transfer the original data into the Biometal, then maybe we had a chance against Serpent. Of course, we needed more help, but this could do for now.

It was then that I noticed another tablet. It was sitting near the computer Prairie was working at.

"Oh, that's where I got the information from. You can look at it if you wish," Prairie said.

I picked it up and pulled out a cable. If this tablet was like the others, then there would be an audio file inside when I hooked up with it. I connected the tablet to my Neuro Linker and transferred the files to my Neuro Linker. After a few minutes, the transfer was complete and I looked through the files.

And just as I suspected, I found an audio file. I opened it and heard Ciel's nostalgic voice once more. Tears began to well up in my eyes unconsciously and I wanted to hold them back, but I knew that Zero was hurting again. So I let him hurt, because I knew how much he missed Ciel.

"This last message is for Lan. This audio file, unlike the others, only appears when Lan directly links to the tablet that contains the last of my research. And if he was the one to directly link with the other ones, that would make me really happy.

Lan. There isn't much time left for me. I know this because this is my dying message. This audio file also contains a hidden file that is the last piece of the puzzle, if you've collected the other two tablets.

I have only two requests for you, and one is very important. Use the power of the Biometal to destroy Dr. Weil forever. Like I had said before, you and Vent have the potential to use Model W. Although I had said you could use it to save the world, that isn't an option. Model W will taint your mind and cause you to destroy the world, no matter what. It will do it even with Model X's copy ability. So whatever you do, do not let Vent acquire the power of Model W.

The last one is the important one. Choose your own destiny, Lan. You, and only you, have the power to do so. Don't believe in what anyone else says, because your destiny is yours alone.

Goodbye."

The message ended and I was on the ground with a burning pain in my chest. Prairie noticed and knelt down next to me and asked me if I was okay.

"I'm… fine," I gasped.

"You don't look fine!" she said with worry.

I sat up and ignored the pain. I scrolled through my Neuro Linker's files and looked for new ones that may have popped up after unlocking all three audio files. I found nothing.

I moved all three audio files into one folder and tried to combine them or something. I highlighted all three of them and found a new option: Unlock. I pressed that option and a new screen popped up. It asked for a password.

"Password?" I asked aloud.

"What are you looking at?" Prairie asked.

"Shh," I shushed her.

I stared intently at the screen and thought for a long time. If this was Ciel, then there was only one chance at this in case someone might have stolen my Neuro Linker. I had to know Ciel well to figure out the password. But the problem was, I didn't know her at all. What could the password be?

I tried to remember any hints. I went through my mind and tried to recall every conversation I had with Ciel. Her last message. Her dying words. Our conversation when she visited me at the hospital…

Then I remembered that she had said something weird when we were in the Accelerated World. What was it again? It didn't sound Japanese. It sounded really foreign and strange.

_Fortitude… Creed._

I opened up the keyboard and typed that in. I wasn't sure if I spelled it correctly, since it wasn't Japanese. The letters flashed in front of my eyes and I hit 'enter'. This was the moment of truth. What was Ciel hiding from us?

My screen then flickered and then all my windows disappeared. Did I guess wrong? If I did, were the consequences a destroyed Neuro Linker? That's pretty harsh, Ciel…

"What happened?" Prairie asked, breaking the silence.

"My Neuro Linker shut down," I replied.

Right as I said that, the windows popped back up. The audio files were still there, and nothing seemed to have changed. Until…

"Hello Lan," said a nostalgic female voice.

"C…Ciel?" I said aloud.

"Yup, it's me. Well, kind of. I'm not the Ciel you knew. In a way I am, and in a way I'm not."

"Can… Can you show yourself? Where are you?" I said.

"Onee-chan?" Prairie whispered. "She's here?"

"I'm on your shoulder," Ciel answered.

I shifted my gaze to my shoulder and found a small pink figure sitting there. She wore a pink helmet and had three angular bangs of hair and had small wings of some sort. This was definitely Ciel, or at least, someone almost exactly like her.

"Explain yourself," I said, tears flowing out of my eyes uncontrollably again. I wiped them away as best as I could so I could continue to see the impossible.

"Let's see here… To explain this properly, let's jump back twenty plus years. Have you ever heard of the Sword Art Online incident?"

"Uhm, I remember reading about it. It was where ten thousand players were trapped inside of a VRMMO, right?"

"Yes. The creator, Kayaba Akihiko, killed himself by scanning his brain with a high-frequency wave. Although he did that, he was able to create a copy of himself into the virtual world. This is essentially what I did, except that I didn't kill myself."

"I see. So which Ciel are you?"

"I'm the Ciel from…" she said as she gazed at the clock on my Neuro Linker. "From two weeks and four days ago."

"So right before the original died, huh," I remarked.

"L-Lan? Are you really talking to Onee-chan?" Prairie asked, louder this time.

I handed her the other end of the cable and she connected it to her Neuro Linker. After a few moments, her eyes lit up once she saw the small Ciel on my shoulder. She lunged forward to hug her, but her hands just went right through.

"Sorry, Prairie. You can't touch me…" Ciel said with a sad smile.

"I've missed you so much, Onee-chan!" Prairie said with tears in her eyes.

"I'm not the original Ciel you once knew. I'm just a copy of her."

"But that means you've retained her memories and personality, right?" I said.

"It would seem so. My brain says that you are all friends, but my heart says you're all strangers."

"So Ciel created the perfect AI… If only she were alive to see this," Prairie whispered.

"So we can't call you Ciel, since the original is still talked about. What should we call you?" I asked the copy-Ciel.

"Uhm… You two should think up of a name," she replied.

Prairie and I looked at each other blankly. I was really bad at thinking up of names, for starters. And I don't think Prairie was good at it either. Still, we tried our hardest.

"How about… Passy?" Prairie offered.

"Sure. It sounds fitting," I said. To be honest, I didn't really care what we called her. But Passy sounded good.

"Well copy-Ciel, it looks like your name is now Passy," I told her.

"I like it," she said with a smile.

Prairie stared at Passy for a bit before going back to work on the computer.

"What are you two trying to do right now?" Passy asked.

"We're trying to transfer the original Zero's data into Biometal Model Z," I answered.

"I can help with that! I know exactly how to do that."

I chuckled and walked up to the computer where Prairie was working at and cabled with it. Passy glowed and disappeared from my shoulder. She reappeared on the computer screen and started to do complex tasks quickly. After a few short moments, she turned around and spoke.

"Please connect the Biometal now," she said.

"Where, exactly?" I asked as I looked around. There didn't seem to be a place to put a Biometal anywhere.

"I think this is it," Prairie said, opening a part of the computer.

She revealed six slots for six different Biometals. Under each slot was a letter that indicated which Biometal went where. I inserted Model Z in the one labeled 'Z' and returned to the screen.

"Connect the cable to your Neuro Linker again. I'm going to extract the original data from you,"  
Passy instructed.

I did as I was told and waited with Prairie again. If all went well, I would be at full power and would have a chance at defeating Serpent, and if I had to, the other Mega Men as well.

"All done! I'm coming back," Passy said at last.

After she safely returned to my Neuro Linker, I took the cable out and retrieved Model Z. I held it in my hand and it felt slightly heavier now. Either that or it was just my imagination.

"Model Z, how do you feel?" I asked.

"It's rebooting right now, so it'll be a while before you can use it again," Passy explained.

"Oh. Damn, I kind of wanted to try it out right now."

"It's alright. You'll find the time for it eventually."

I turned to face Prairie and said, "We should get Vent to do this too."

"Right. I'll call him over as soon as possible," she replied with a nod.

I nodded back and decided to head out. That was enough for today. We've accomplished more than what we could before, which felt really good. Not only that, but we brought back an old friend, although she was slightly different now.

"I can hear your thoughts," Passy suddenly said.

"Zero can too, so it's okay," I said with a smile. Wouldn't I look weird to be talking to someone only I can see?

"I see. So you two have finally become one?"

"I guess. Can you hear him?"

Passy listened intently for Zero's voice. I also listened as I walked on home. Zero, if you want to talk to Passy, and I'm sure you do, now's your chance!

_Hello Passy, _Zero said.

"I can hear him! He said hello!" Passy squealed in delight. It's like she found a new toy or something.

"You two can have a nice conversation when I'm asleep. Just don't be too loud, alright?" I chuckled.

I wasn't sure if I could deal with more than one person in my head. But I guess I'd have to try, since Passy was a vital companion. Was I ever going to get sleep at night? Will I be able to focus in class? These wild questions just popped out of nowhere to annoy Zero and Passy.

_You won't be disturbed too much, _Zero replied.

I chuckled as an answer and continued on home. Everything was getting better. Wait for me, Kuroyukihime! I'll save you no matter what!

* * *

I opened my eyes and found myself in the same room as yesterday and the day before. I was blindly hoping for Lan and our team to jump in and save me at any moment. I hated being a captive princess in a locked castle. I couldn't do anything to get out. If I tried to fight, I would certainly die. So my only option was to wait painfully.

I got up and cleaned myself with the very expensive shower. After that, I dressed myself in the new clothes I was given: a long black dress with spaghetti straps. I put on black high-heels and walked out of my prison.

This was how it was everyday. I was treated like a princess in a locked castle. To be honest, it was kind of literal. I looked like a princess and I was in a locked mansion. Serpent kept me well fed for some reason and treated me very well, albeit a bit harsh sometimes. Was he trying to get on my good side? That'll never happen, because I'm in enemy territory.

I entered the dining room and found Serpent at the end of the long table wearing a white tuxedo. He looked revolting. I wanted to throw up all over him.

"Ahh, Kuroyukihime. As your name implies, you truly are a princess." **(A/N: Kuroyukihime literally means Black Snow Princess in Japanese) **

I said nothing and sat down opposite of Serpent. I took off the silver platter and ate my breakfast, disliking every bite. The food wasn't bad, but because of the conditions I was put in, I couldn't enjoy the food.

"You must be wondering, why am I keeping you alive?" Serpent said, trying to spark a conversation. As much as I hated talking to him, I had to get some information out of him.

"A little bit, yes. If you want to tell me, do so," I said in an emotionless voice.

"Isn't it obvious? It's for our little Red Hero to push forward to a goal! He'll fight his hardest just to save his princess," Serpent laughed.

I didn't say anything in response and continued to eat my meal. And then the door opened from behind me and I heard a robotic voice speak.

"PREPARATIONS ARE 100% COMPLETE," said the robot (was it a really badly built Pseudoroid?).

"Good. Commence the attack once noon comes around," Serpent commanded.

"I WILL."

I heard the figure begin to move away. But Serpent said something else that sent a chill down my spine.

"And Siarnaq... Don't be afraid to kill our little Hero."

"UNDERSTOOD."

And with that, the unknown person left just as he entered.

"I thought you said Lan was the final key for awakening Model W," I said.

"I have a backup final key," Serpent chuckled.

A backup? Who could that be? It couldn't possibly be... be me, right? If it was, why not just awaken Model W right now? What was Serpent up to?

I got up and left the dining room. I climbed the stairs and entered my room again. This is where I stayed for the entirety of the day. I only went down to get food. What else was there to do? I couldn't enjoy myself around the villains.

I walked to the window and stared at the blue sky. I prayed for Lan to fight hard and to survive. He needed to, because if he didn't, the world may be a jeopardy again.

"Serpent doesn't want to use his backup because he's overconfident," said a female voice from behind. I turned around and saw Pandora in the doorway.

"I thought I told you people to knock before entering," I said coldly.

"I never entered the room."

"Tch!" I walked to the bed and sat down. "What do you mean?"

"Serpent is overconfident because he believes he was chosen by Model W. He believes he can accomplish anything now."

"Model W picked him?" I asked, surprised.

"No. It's just using him. Model W wants to destroy the world." And with that, Pandora left.

Model W wanted to destroy the world, huh. I wonder where I've heard something like that before? Dr. Weil said the same thing last year on the space station known as Ragnarok. I wanted that to be the end of our dangerous adventures and live a normal life as Burst Linkers.

I sighed and plopped down onto the bed and closed my eyes.

_Lan... Please hurry. _

[Database]

[Siarnaq - A mysterious person who became a machine through unknown means. He is the Biomatch for Biometal Model P. A friend of Vent's.]


	11. Chapter 10 - The Shadow Mega Man

_The Next Day - 11:45 AM_

I looked through my Neuro Linker at lunch at the usual spot and stared at Prairie's message. She said that she transferred Vent's original Legendary Hero data to Model X, so we were at the same page. Passy left the program running when she exited the computer, so it wasn't too difficult to do.

I switched windows to today's morning news. More and more people were missing and nobody had any leads. I wondered how they were being taken away without anyone noticing. Aeolus could somehow fly in and sweep them up quickly, but that would create a lot of noise and wind. What could Serpent do? Who else was on his side? I couldn't answer these questions and it made me very irritated.

I shifted my gaze to my waist, where Model Z was attached. In a few more minutes, it'd be able to be usable again. I had asked Passy about how transferring the original data over would affect the Biometal if it was split in half.

"You'd lose half of your power once Kuroyukihime R.O.C.K.'d ON with her half," she had answered.

Part of me wanted her to transform so she could escape. The other part of me wanted her to sit still and wait for me, but I knew that wasn't very likely to happen. She wasn't the kind of person to sit still and wait for someone to come and save her. She was more like me, wanting to slice everything to bits while attempting to escape.

I got up from my seat and walked back to class. There was nothing else to do and no one else to talk to. The only thing I could do now was wait until the school day was over. Then I could continue on my quest to destroy the remaining Model Ws and defeat Serpent.

I walked by various students in my year, but they all felt like strangers to me. Some of them have been my classmates my entire middle school career, yet I barely know their names. I guess the Ragnarok incident and Kuroyukihime had a large impact on my social life, but I didn't care much. That was because I had Brain Burst, Ciel, Vent and his friends, and Kuroyukihime. That was all I needed.

But now Ciel was gone. Vent was somewhere else all the time. His friends were probably all gone too, perhaps some of them were enemies. Kuroyukihime was kidnapped. I was alone in this school now.

"Don't worry, Lan. You still have me and Zero!" Passy said out of nowhere.

I glanced to my left shoulder, the spot where Passy was almost always at, and found her smiling. Yes, that was right. I've made new friends too.

"Thanks, Passy," I replied with a smile.

"Lan? What are you smiling at?" asked a student who was sitting on my left side.

"N-Nothing," I said, embarrassed. I've already forgotten that nobody but me could see Passy.

The class instructor entered after a few moments and began to teach math. I tried to take notes as diligently as possible. Passy helped me with the notes and how to solve things without me speaking, which was very helpful.

"Why am I even coming here if you can teach me everything?" I said quietly.

"What was that Lan?" asked the teacher. "Are you volunteering to solve the expression?"

"Erk! Uhm, I'd be happy to, sensei!" I said.

"Talk as you work," he instructed.

_Goddammit, _I cursed to myself. _Some help here, Passy? _

"You got yourself into this mess. You have to get out if it!" she laughed.

_Are you serious?! _

"Lan! What's the hold up?" the teacher asked, annoyed.

"N-Nothing!" I stuttered. "S-So, to solve the quadratic e-expression, don't you just use the quadratic formula?"

"And that would be…?"

"Erm…" I mumbled.

"Lan, you've been in this class for half a year and you still don't know the quadratic formula?"

"Th-That's… unfortunately correct," I conceded.

I heard snickers from the students around me and I laughed nervously in response. I didn't really let it get to me, since there were more important things at hand, such as human lives.

Before the teacher could speak again, I heard an explosion from outside the school. I didn't see it or wasn't sure if it was close, but I was sure it was a big explosion. Everyone in the room, me being the exception, ducked under their desks. I got up and ran out of the room as fast as possible.

"Lan! Where are you-"

I didn't hear the rest because I was sprinting through the hallways. A few teachers told me to enter a classroom, but I ignored them. I ran towards the exit of the school, but was stopped by a rather large teacher.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked.

"I'm going out. Now get out of the way!" I said angrily.

"You're going to get yourself killed!"

"Move. Now," I said with hostility in my eyes. I didn't want to hurt anyone in the school, but if they were going to stop me, I had to move them out of the way.

"Are you going to defy a teacher's command? Do you want to get suspended?" he threatened. Unfortunately, I wasn't a normal student, so these were empty threats.

I quickly moved my hand to my waist and the teacher shot his hands up as if I was going to pull out a gun. I pulled out something more powerful and dangerous instead.

"R.O.C.K. ON!" I shouted, hoping for Model Z to be active right now.

After a few seconds of waiting, nothing happened. I cursed under my breath in frustration and the teacher had an expression of confusion on his face. I took the opportunity to run past him. He tried to restrain me, but I accelerated and dodged his lunge.

"Get back here!" he cried.

"Keep the other students safe!" I called out to him. I was already almost out of the school grounds.

I heard another explosion and I looked in the direction of where the sound came from. I saw a large fire in the distance and ran towards it. I knew that this wasn't something random and it was all planned. There were no accidents like these anymore.

As I neared the source of the explosions, I saw Japanese soldiers run by. Was it this serious? How long has it been going on for? I tried to catch up with the soldiers, but one caught me by my arm and started scolding me.

"What's a kid like you doing out here? Go back to school!" he shouted.

"I'm the only chance you have at fighting whatever's out there. Now let me go!" I fought back.

"Don't be such a child! You can't play Superhero forever!"

Another explosion went off and the building that was right next to us was engulfed in fire. A portion of it fell off and headed straight for the soldier and me.

"R.O.C.K. ON!" I shouted. Surely it was ready by now?

I instantly transformed into the Red Mega Man and saved the soldier I was just speaking to. The burning building pieces fell and crushed the ground, hurting no one.

"Y-You… What did you just do?" the soldier asked, dumbfounded.

"How long has this been going on?" I asked, ignoring his question.

"I-It's been g-going on since noon," he answered with a shaky voice.

Noon? I looked at the time and saw that it was 12:07 PM. It started seven minutes ago and the sound of the explosions never reached the school? Just how many buildings have been demolished by now? I thanked the soldier quickly and dashed past the others. They all began to speak at the same time, but I decipher what they were saying. I ignored them and dashed forward.

I saw injured civilians as I dashed through the burning streets. I wanted to do something to help all of them, but I knew I had to defeat the thing doing all of this first. I wanted to protect everyone!

"Lan! Above you!" Passy cried.

I looked up and saw a giant spherical structure with a hexagonal design. Was it a bee's nest? Only one way to find out. I pulled the out the Z-Saber and slashed a sonic boom at it. As it made contact, the sphere blew up and caused a large explosion. I covered my face with my arm as burning debris fell.

"Aahh!" screamed a female voice.

I uncovered my face and looked back up at the sky. What replaced the spherical object was a purple bee-like machine. It had four purple wings sprouted out on its back.

"Who're you?" I called out to it.

"I'm Queenbee the Hymenopteroid!" it said with the female voice I heard before.

"Well, you're done terrorizing these innocent people!"

Before she could respond, I jumped into the air and slashed her to the ground. I then used Rakuretsuzan to stab her deeper into the ground, but I underestimated her speed and she flew out of the way. I tried to follow her, but she flew around a building and I lost sight of her. Was she running away already?

I kept my eyes in the sky as I ran around looking for Queenbee. She reappeared around a building with the giant spherical object under her again. The hexagonal parts actually flipped open and smaller versions of her flew out.

"Why would anyone fly around with a giant beehive that can explode?" I said to myself, amazed by Queenbee's stupidity.

I dealt with the smaller bees by slashing them to pieces with my Z-Saber. They blew up upon contact, however, so I had to be careful when taking them out. I didn't want to harm any people around me.

I heard the sound of a gunshot and then an explosion from behind me followed suit. A soldier shot a bee that was heading towards my back, which I was grateful for.

"Thanks!" I called to him.

"No problem, kid!" he said back.

I turned my attention back to Queenbee and dashed towards her at full speed. I wasn't as fast as Aeolus, but I was faster than I was before. I jumped at the right moment and slashed Queenbee's physical body. I remained on her by holding onto the beehive as firmly as possible.

"Ahh!" she screamed. "Get off of me!"

"It's not my fault you're carrying a giant beehive!" I said.

More bees flew out from the beehive and I propelled myself off of the beehive while charging energy. I switched to the Buster Shot Gun and fired a Charged Shot at Queenbee's beehive, causing it to explode again. Queenbee had just about enough of flying around with a beehive, so she flew up and shot energy shots at me with her stinger. I air-dashed back to her and slashed her down with all of my might.

"Yaaah!" she screamed as she flew down.

I used Sentsuizan, hoping to crash down onto her and destroying her in the process. I felt a large impact as I hit the ground hard, causing dust and debris to fly everywhere.

After the dust cleared, Queenbee was twitching on the ground like a squashed bee. I finished her off with one final slash and she twitched no more.

"That wasn't too difficult," I said.

"I sense Biometal," Model Z said suddenly.

"Where?" I asked, whipping my head around.

"Above us!"

_Again?_

I looked up and saw a shadow. It jumped down and landed in front of me. It was a person in a ninja garment. He was a pale person with red eyes, purple hair, and purple clothing. If I had to guess, this person really liked purple. His scarf was red, so maybe he liked red too.

"CROSSCHECKING... DATA MATCH FOUND... SUBJECT IS MEGA MAN MODEL Z," he said in a robotic voice. Was this guy even human?

"And you are?" I asked.

"CODE NAME: SIARNAQ, THE SHADOW MEGA MAN."

"Another Mega Man, huh?"

"INITIATING BATTLE MODE. R.O.C.K. ON."

He pulled out a purple Biometal (go figure) and transformed into the Shadow Mega Man. Shadows enveloped Siarnaq's body and retreated, revealing a scary-looking armored figure. He was all purple still, had a helmet with a rather large white "jaw", and red eyes that had the intent of killing.

_So… _I began my thoughts.

"Is his Biometal infused with the original Legendary Hero data? You should assume so," Passy said.

_Actually, I was going to ask why we don't have a badass transformation sequence. I mean, the Mega Men we've fought so far don't just flash white when they R.O.C.K. ON. _

"Lan, just focus on the fight," Passy chuckled.

"I was being serious," I said aloud this time.

"BATTLE COMMENCING."

"Good lord you're annoying."

Siarnaq dashed towards me and disappeared into thin air. I've never fought Phantom before, so I had no idea what to expect. I looked around me and hoped that he would appear behind me, but instead, he appeared to my right side. I reacted in time and dodged his kunai knives that were flying towards me with ridiculous speed. He dashed towards me and disappeared again, which irritated me.

"How am I supposed to hit this guy when all he does is disappear?" I asked aloud to Passy.

"Haven't you fought yellow-colored Burst Linkers in the Accelerated World before?" Passy asked. "Predict where they'll appear!"

"It's a lot easier said..." I said as Siarnaq reappeared behind me. I dodged his kunai knives and he disappeared again.

"Than done," I finished.

Nevertheless, I did the best I could to predict Siarnaq's movements. If he disappeared, he must have turned invisible or something, right? You can't just disappear into thin air! Then again, a small metallic object can just flash and you have armor, so anything was possible.

Siarnaq appeared in front of me but I didn't dodge his kunai knives this time. I dashed towards him as he threw them and used my arm to block them. Then I slashed his abdomen, but found that the hit wasn't successful and that Siarnaq was already gone! I cursed under my breath and waited for him to reappear again.

I saw the red flash of his eyes at the very moment he was about to appear and used Shippuuga. My Z-Saber flashed pink as I dashed forward and sliced his figure quickly. I landed the hit successfully, leading me to chain to other familiar combos. I used Ranbu to deal as much damage as possible. After the rising slash at the end of the combo, I jumped up to use Entsuizan and smash Siarnaq into the ground.

I landed back on the ground with a soft thump and waited for Siarnaq to get back up. The fight wouldn't be done this quickly, would it?

"ANALYZING SUBJECT..." Siarnaq said, "SUBJECT IS MORE POWERFUL THAN EXPECTED. OVERDRIVE INVOKE SYSTEM ACTIVATED."

"Wait, what the hell is that?" I asked quickly.

Before I could hear Passy's answer, Siarnaq got up in a flash and threw multiple kunais at me with blinding speed. I was struck in the chest by all of them and felt a stinging sensation. My body felt numb and I fell to the ground, unable to move a muscle. Siarnaq dashed up to me and kicked me up into the air. I saw a large shuriken in his right arm appear as he prepared for another attack. He threw it at me and it spun like helicopter blades.

_I'm gonna get cut in half! _I thought to myself in alarm.

My arm moved on its own and caught the giant shuriken as if it did it every day. Was I dreaming or were my instincts _that _good?

_Don't kid yourself. I'm taking over for you for now, _Zero said.

I landed back on the ground and threw the shuriken back at Siarnaq. I wasn't sure if Zero wanted to cut him in half with his own shuriken or what, but Siarnaq caught it and put it away.

"INCOMPREHENSIBLE... INCOMPREHENSIBLE!" Siarnaq said, apparently surprised.

"Rekkoha!" I said automatically. I pounded my fist into the ground and giant pillars of light came crashing down.

_Careful, Zero! There are civilians and soldiers around! _I warned him.

_Sorry. _

Siarnaq wasn't hurt too badly from the attack, but he recovered from his shocked state.

"KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU," Siarnaq recited while moving his hands in a weird fashion. **(A/N: He is a ninja, after all, so why not? The lines itself are non-canon, but the attack is canon.)**

After a split second, more Siarnaqs appeared out of nowhere. They threw the large shurikens from before and they flew towards me with ridiculous speed. I dodged the shurikens like nobody's business. I used Reppuugeki and pierced through all of the clones in response. For some reason, I pierced through all of the clones and they all disappeared, meaning that Siarnaq was somewhere else. But where?

Apparently, Zero knew exactly where Siarnaq was because right as Siarnaq reappeared, I whipped my body in his direction and slashed with enough force to make him go flying.

"Ittou Ryoudan-" I tried to say. But I willingly stopped Zero from saying the entire command as well as the body movement.

_Zero, we aren't killing anyone! We're also not using that move because it's too risky! _I said.

_I was caught in the heat of the battle. I'm sorry, _He apologized again.

I felt my body become less numb and moved my limbs slowly. After a few moments, the paralysis disappeared. Right as that happened, Siarnaq reappeared, walking toward me with an arm wrapped around his abdomen. Zero did more damage than I did against Siarnaq, which slightly frightened me.

"MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. RETREATING TACTIC INITIATED," Siarnaq said.

"Mission? What were you after?!" I yelled as he disappeared into darkness.

I sighed and leaned against a nearby building to catch my breath. Why did I feel so tired? I was barely doing anything.

"Zero was pushing your body to its limits," Passy answered. "That's what happens when another consciousness takes over for a long period of time."

"It wasn't that long."

"It was longer than what you've experienced in the past. In the past, all Zero did was boost your acceleration with Physical Burst. He used his mind and willpower to move your body faster."

"I see. Well, I guess we gotta help these people out now."

I scanned the area and helped the people who looked injured. Soldiers and paramedics were also helping out. I helped speed up the job by dashing from emergency vehicle to emergency vehicle. I destroyed and removed rubble from buildings. I tried to extinguish some fire, but all I did was make it bigger, so I stopped doing that.

"Thanks, red samurai!" a child I patched up said.

"No problem," I said as I patted his head gently.

"Your green sword is cool-looking!"

"Thanks. Now go back to your mother, so she doesn't worry," I laughed.

The child happily walked back to his mother, who gazed at him with concern. Then she looked up at me and smiled gratefully. A soldier appeared in front of me and blocked her from my view.

"Thanks for your help. Erm... who are you?" he asked.

"I'm the Red Hero. That's all you need to know," I answered.

"Right. I'm sure it'll be easy to tell who you are with your blonde hair."

"Good lu- what?"

It was then that I noticed my armor wasn't as bulky as it used to be. My arms were back to their normal size and my vest looked exactly like the original Red Hero's from last year. I looked behind me and saw the golden hair swaying to the slight breeze that blew. Why did my appearance change? I never did a Double R.O.C.K. ON with Model X!

"Uhm, excuse me," I said as I dashed away.

I dashed pass all of the firefighters and paramedics and headed back to school. I transformed back to my normal form, which was my Umesato Middle School attire, and re-entered the school building. There were teachers and students walking about, gathering supplies for the wounded.

"Lan! You're back, thank goodness!" a teacher said. "Were you out helping?"

"Yeah. Sorry I left unexpectedly," I apologized with an awkward smile.

I followed the teacher to the cafeteria to get food and water for those who were injured in the incident. The entire time I worked, I wondered what Siarnaq and Queenbee were after. What was in Suginami that they wanted so badly?

* * *

I returned home at about 5 PM because I was helping out the injured patients at the nearest hospital. Prairie gave me a call and wondered if I helped stop the Pseudoroid that was causing the attack.

"Yeah, I did that. There wasn't just a Pseudoroid, but a Mega Man was there too," I answered.

"Which one?"

"The Shadow Mega Man, Model P. Siarnaq was his name. Man, was he really weird."

"Tell me more tomorrow. I bet you're really worn out from all the events so far. Get some rest, okay?"

"Alright. See you tomorrow."

"Bye."

I plopped down on my bed without even bothering to change clothes. I was really tired. Was there going to be an attack like this every day? But what if it was on the other side of Japan? What will I do then? I couldn't just leave class again, I'd probably get expelled for sure.

"Oh yeah, Passy. You never told me what the Overdrive Invoke System was," I said.

"As the name implies, it puts the Biometal through overdrive. It enhances the user's abilities and adds an elemental attribute to all of his or her attacks depending on what Biometal they're using," Passy answered.

"So what did it do for Model P?"

"It doubles its attack power. And just like you witnessed, it doubles its speed."

"Does Model Z have an Overdrive Invoke System?"

"Not that I know of, no. You can try to activate it during another fight, but don't do it at the beginning. Before you ask why, it's because it causes strain on the user and consumes a lot of energy. So it's a last resort thing."

"I see. Thanks a lot Passy. What would I do without you?" I laughed.

"You'd be a little more ignorant of things," she chuckled.

I laughed again before submitting to my sleepiness. I fell into a deep sleep and dreamed of the Ragnarok incident that happened one year ago. It was a dream that I dreamed about frequently, and I didn't know why.

[Database]

[Queenbee the Hymenopteroid - A female Pseudoroid based on a wasp. She uses a large beehive to attack her foes. When she doesn't carry around the beehive, her stinger produces energy shots that are deadly and precise.]


	12. Chapter 11 - Fire, Ice, and a Devil

Umesato Middle School closed for the day today because of the incident yesterday, which was fine with me. I wanted to go back to sleep, but I decided to get dressed and head over to Ciel's lab. I wished I had better transportation so I didn't have to walk there all the time. It's true that I could dash there while transformed, but that would attract too much attention. Besides, the golden-haired Red hero is being hunted by paparazzi.

I put on my usual attire when I wasn't attended school, which consisted of blue jeans, a black shit, and a dark red sweatshirt. I made sure my hair and face were properly washed and grabbed Model Z. I headed out the front door and made my way to Ciel's lab.

I opened some windows on my Neuro Linker and watched the news as I walked on. Unfortunately, the news stations didn't know much about why the attack happened. They talked about dead and injured victims, as well as more missing people. The estimated total of missing people all over Japan was said to be over two thousand.

"Two thousand people?!" I exclaimed out loud. Bystanders looked at me strangely and I waved them off nervously.

"That's a lot of people," Passy said.

"I wonder why Serpent needs so many people," I murmured.

"It has to do with Model W. That's the only answer I have."

"But why? What can Model W do to two thousand people who aren't its Biomatch?"

"I don't know. We'll have to see and figure it out for ourselves."

After a few more minutes, I made it to my destination. I entered the building, smelling the fragrance of Ciel's casual floor. It was fading, but it was still nice to smell. I entered the stairwell and went downstairs to the usual room. I opened the door and found Prairie and Vent sitting at a table, waiting for me patiently.

"Yo," Vent greeted.

"Hey," I greeted back.

I made it to where they were and sat myself down. And like I promised Prairie yesterday, I told her about how my day went yesterday. The explosions, the fight with Queenbee, and Siarnaq. After I was done telling my tale, they just stared at me with mixed expressions.

"Siarnaq, huh... He used to be a friend of mine," Vent murmured.

"A friend? What happened?" I asked.

"I'm not sure. He was with us last year in the fight against Weil. A few months later, he went missing."

"Is Aeolus a friend of yours too?"

"Yeah. Why are my friends turning against us?"

There was only one answer to that, and we didn't even want to say it. It was the power of Model W. They were after it for their own reasons, probably. Remembering back to a week ago, I fought against Vent when he was on the hunt for Model w. Perhaps his friends had similar reasons? If so, then recruiting them to our side wouldn't be too hard.

"Was Siarnaq acting any different?" Vent asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah. He spoke as if he were a robot from like, half a century ago," I chuckled in a friendly manner.

"I see," Vent said, pained.

"Sorry."

"No, it's fine. It's just..."

I patted his shoulder gently and shifted my gaze over to Prairie, who looked worriedly at Vent. Her eyes met mine and understood the message I was giving her. We should give Vent some time and discuss about the next move.

"Prairie, do you have any clue on what they were after?" I asked.

"No, but it's safe to say that there was a Model W fragment near your school."

"That's strange, because Model Z's never detected a Biometal near my school ever since I received it."

Passy answered, "Although Model Z and Model X are better at detecting Model W, Model W still has the power to mask its presence to the other Biometals."

"I see. Thanks Passy!"

"What'd she say about the matter?" Prairie asked.

"Passy? Who's that?" Vent spoke up. I had nearly forgotten that he never met Passy yet.

"Here, cable with me," I said, pulling out a linking cable.

Vent took it awkwardly and inserted it into his Neuro Linker. After the confirmation message appeared, Vent immediately noticed the small pink figure on my shoulder.

"C-Ciel?!" he exclaimed.

"It's nice to meet you , Vent. I'm Passy!" Passy introduced herself with a small bow.

"You look exactly like her..." he moved his face closer to my shoulder and tried to touch Passy. But his finger passed right through her.

"I'm a copy of Ciel from before she died. I have all of her memories, but my personality is slightly different."

"Wow..." Vent was obviously at a loss for words.

"Anyway, Passy said that Model W had the power to mask its presence from the other Biometals if it wanted to," I continued.

"Interesting. Since we're on the subject of Model W, I found a rather large Model W fragment a few hours ago," Prairie said.

"Really? Where?" Vent and I asked at the same time.

"In the Pacific Ocean. I don't think Serpent is there yet, so you'll have to get there as soon as possible."

"Can the teleporter get us close to its location?" I asked.

"No. I have an airplane already prepared to take off at the Haneda Airport. I added the airport as a destination for the teleporter."

"Really? You built another teleporter there?"

"No. It'll just transport you there. There won't be any way of coming back through teleportation."

"Alright," I said as I took the cable off. "Let's go, Vent!"

Vent nodded and we made our way to the teleporter. Prairie began the final preparations for the teleport while Vent and I waited patiently. Prairie gave us the thumbs up and the teleporter began to shake and operate. Like before, the top portion came down a few feet and a golden arm wrapped around the circumference. Vent and I slowly broke down into smaller bits and pieces and then moved to our destination.

Another flash of light and we reappeared in front of the Haneda Airport. Thankfully, there weren't very many people around so we didn't attract that much attention. A soldier with an unknown uniform was waiting for us. He was wearing a green uniform over a black bodysuit with a small, golden plated necktie on his vest. His pants were white and he wore a brown belt. He also wore a round helmet with a T-shaped red visor that covered his eyes.

"You must be Lan and Vent. Follow me," he commanded.

"Who are you?" I asked as we followed him.

"I am a member of the peace-keeping force known as the Guardians, once led by the scientist Ciel and now led by Prairie."

"I had no idea Prairie was the leader of such an important group..." Vent muttered.

"Me too," I chuckled. I had a feeling Prairie was an important person, but I didn't think that she was the leader of something so big. At least, I thought it was big. After all, they were able to hold a private plane for just two people.

After a few minutes, the Guardian led us to a familiar airship.

"Isn't that...?" Vent began to say.

"The Grand Nuage?!" I finished.

The Grand Nuage was an airship that Ciel called down last year in the fight against Dr. Weil. Although she called it an Enhanced Armament, which were extra items to help you out in fights in the Accelerated World, I didn't expect to see the real thing.

"Yes, that's her. She was finished being built not too long ago. The Grand Nuage is the base for all Guardians."

"Wow. That's impressive," Vent remarked.

"It certainly is. Now are you two ready to go?"

Vent and I nodded and entered the airship. There was a rather large staircase that led up to the side of the ship. After climbing it, we entered the Grand Nuage and noticed the familiar features. There were added things, like an elevator and more rooms. I noticed a room labeled "Transerver" and asked the Guardian about it.

"Oh, that. We're still constructing a teleporter so you two can teleport here whenever you need to," he answered.

"Nice. Let's go, Vent," I said.

We went to the front of the ship as it prepared for takeoff. There were three pilots, which made sense because the ship was quite large. They introduced themselves as Gardénia, Tulip, and Marguerite. Vent and I sat down in two seats as we awaited takeoff.

* * *

Serpent called me down from my room to show me something that I absolutely had to see. I didn't want to but I was forced by Pandora to go. I followed Serpent silently, showing no signs of weakness. He let me keep Model Z on me, although it wouldn't be of much use because of Prometheus and Pandora. We made our way to the end of the mansion and entered an elevator. He pressed a few buttons and we descended at quite a fast speed.

"You'll certainly _love _what I have to show you," Serpent said.

I didn't say anything back. The elevator finally slowed down and stopped at a floor labeled B-W. The doors slid open and Serpent held my arm as we walked forward. There was nothing more revolting than being held by a guy you absolutely hated.

I heard some noises that sounded really strange and familiar. Were they humans? They sounded like they were in pain or something. What was Serpent up to? He opened another door and the sight in front of me almost made me throw up.

In the giant room that spread for kilometers were Model Ws of all shapes and sizes. But that wasn't the disgusting part. There were cylindrical containers holding _live _and naked human beings. Most of them held humans that didn't move. They were either dead or asleep. There were people screaming, but there was nothing I could do.

"What... What the hell is this?!" I screamed.

"This is the start of a new world!" Serpent said with his arms high into the air.

"Why do you need so many people?"

"Their fear and anger is what drives Model W!"

"So you're going to kill all of these people to start a new world? A new world full of what?"

"By joining us, the weak are freed from their suffering! The chosen one, Mega Man, will save the people!"

"You've gotta be kidding me. Where did you get all of these people?!"

"Over the course of four weeks, I have been kidnapping people from all over Japan. It was so easy with the power of the Biometal! I started with only a few at a time, thinking that maybe the authorities would catch on. But they didn't! So I began to take hundreds at a time!"

"All of these people..." I said in shock as my eyes wandered from container to container. "I can't believe you think that sacrificing all of these people will be worth it."

"It's survival of the fittest! The strong survive while the weak fade away! It's the classic struggle for life! The spirits of the people have given me what I need to obtain the power of Model W! Look at you! You're only able to stand before me today thanks to the power of Model Z," Serpent went on.

"I won't allow you to do this!" I yelled. I ran away from Serpent and pulled out Model Z.

"Do you really have what it takes to defeat me? I have the power of several Model Ws! All you have is one half of Model Z."

"I don't care. R.O.C.K. ON!"

* * *

The airship flew over the Pacific Ocean to our destination. It wasn't too far away from the mainland of Japan, but an airship ensured that we would make it there first. Not to mention the fact that the Grand Nuage flew pretty fast. I was surprised to find that we weren't flying backwards into the back of the ship at this speed.

Vent remained seated while he waited. I, on the other hand, explored the various locations of the Grand Nuage. There was a data center, where a small man named Fleuve was located. There was a medical center, where Rose and Muguet were located. At the bottom floor, there was an engine room where Cédre monitored. I introduced myself to all of them and had some small talk. I liked the Guardians. They were all friendly people, promoting peace throughout the entire world, not just Japan.

"Lan, we're at our destination. Please return to the command center," said Tulip.

"Well, looks like I gotta go now," I said to Cédre.

"Go and destroy that Model W!" she said in a gruff voice.

I nodded and made my way back to the control center. I passed by the airship's energy source, called the Ciel System. A Guardian said that Ciel once hoped to distribute her energy system throughout the entire world so there wouldn't be any wars for energy sources anymore. It was unfortunate that she didn't live long enough to see that day.

I entered the command center and found Vent ready to go in his R.O.C.K.'d ON form. I R.O.C.K.'d ON as well after seeing him. Then we were led to the elevator and ascended to the top of the ship. At the rooftop, we found ourselves outside and high in the sky. The sky above us had a few clouds floating about. I looked over the edge of the airship and saw a blue ocean. At least, from the top it was blue. I had learned from history that the oceans were getting dirtier because of humans dumping waste into them.

"Do we just jump?" I asked.

"Yup!" a tall Guardian named Thon said.

Vent and I nodded and we jumped off the airship into the watery depths below.

* * *

Serpent dashed up to me and kicked me into the air. Then he air-dashed back and shot a V-shaped shot at me. I was struck by that too and fell to the ground. Since the battle started, all I could do was dodge and try to counterattack. Serpent was too fast and too strong for me.

"Are you going to die along with these people?" Serpent asked. "I don't really want you to make that decision."

"Survival of the fittest, remember?" I said as I struggled to stand up.

Serpent stood tall in front of me in his R.O.C.K.'d ON form. His body was covered with black and white armor, as well as orange horns sprouting from his shoulders, feet, and head. They reminded me of Dr. Weil for some reason, but I couldn't remember why.

I whipped out my double Z-Sabers and dashed towards Serpent again. I used Death by Barraging, but Serpent dodged every single attack as if he were accelerating. He tried to kick me, but I accelerated and dodged his attack.

"Physical Burst!" I said.

My body sped up for a few seconds as I slashed Serpent multiple times. This was the first time I had actually landed a hit on him. He was surprised to see that I still had the will to fight and kicked me away again.

My back hit a sturdy wall and I slumped to the ground, tired and bruised from the short fight.

"Gyahahaha!" Serpent laughed.

"What's so funny, Serpent?" I managed to say.

"I have the back-up final key right in front of me! You're being driven by a powerful emotion right now. So powerful it even exceeds mine!"

I tried to get up, but I felt a large pain in my chest. My transformation was cancelled and I reverted to my normal form. A dark purple orb was floating in front of me and floated up into the air.

"My... transformation was cancelled... What the...?" I managed to gasp out.

"That emotion driving you now... is hate. Your hate for me and everything I've done!" he laughed.

Then the dark purple orb was struck by a red lightning bolt that came from a Model W. It changed into a deep red and began to morph into something. What it was, I couldn't tell. Apparently, this was something that Serpent didn't expect.

"What the hell?! Model W! What did you just do?" Serpent screamed at the Model Ws in the distance.

I stood up in his confusion and walked towards the deep red orb. It floated down towards me and was reshaped into a metallic object that fit snugly into my left hand. It was shaped like a horseshoe and had a face that reminded me of the Red Hero. It was a Biometal, but which one?

"Give that to me!" Serpent roared, lunging towards me.

"Double R.O.C.K. ON!" I said automatically.

A white pillar of light enveloped me immediately after, stopping Serpent in his tracks. Model Z glowed brightly and so did the other Biometal. Then I felt a rush of emotions fill my heart. Hate. Discontent. The need to kill.

"Ahhhh!" I screamed in pain.

After a short while, the light disappeared and I hovered in the air. I opened my eyes and stared at Serpent with a look of hatred.

"I'm going to kill you," I said in a calm and menacing tone.

"Haha, do you really think so..." Serpent laughed nervously in response.

I floated down to the ground and landed with a soft thump. Although it was soft, the room trembled immediately afterwards.

"Wh-What have you b-become?" Serpent stuttered in fear.

I smiled evilly and moved my right arm towards my face.

"_I am the Messiah! Hahahaha!" _I laughed as I whipped my arm back. A pink Z-Saber appeared in my right hand as I did so.

* * *

Vent and I were underwater for quite a while. There was garbage everywhere and the water was rather murky, which made it kind of difficult to see. Thankfully, we were able to breathe underwater even with all the garbage in the way.

After a few more minutes of walking, we heard voices. Crap! Serpent already got here before us! We dashed as best as we could to where the voices were to intercept them. Hopefully we weren't too late!

"Stop!" I cried as we dashed in front of them.

In front of us were two other Mega Men. One was a blue one that resembled Fairy Leviathan. The other was an orange one that resembled Fighting Fefnir. It was hard to tell if they were both male or if one was male since we were underwater.

"Looks like we ran into the Red and Blue Mega Man," the blue one said in a high-pitched male voice.

"Are you two after the Model W down here?" the orange one asked in a deep female voice.

"We're going to destroy it!" I answered.

"Hmph. Looks like there's no stopping it then. We'll be your opponents today, then!" the blue Mega Man said.

"I am Atlas, the Flame Mega Man," the orange Mega Man stated.

"And I am Thetis, the Ice Mega Man!" the other stated.

They didn't wait for us to introduce ourselves and charged at us. Thetis aimed for me with his double-bladed spear, but I blocked it with my Z-Saber. I dashed back and dodged the large energy shots that Atlas shot from her cannons. Thankfully, we were underwater, so her fire attacks wouldn't work too well.

Thetis dashed towards me with the power of his water booster that sprouted from his head. He swiped his spear and shot an ice ball at me. I slashed it in half, but instead of splitting into two, it split into three ice spikes and hit me. My right leg, left arm, and torso were encased in ice, which caused me fall to the ocean floor.

"Good-bye, Red Mega Man!" Thetis called.

"You think I'm gonna go down that easily?" I said as I struggled against the ice. I smashed the ice on my leg with my right arm and it shattered in response. I dashed back up to the battle while bashing the ice on my body and other arm.

Vent wasn't having too much trouble against both of the Mega Men, since he's fought both of them before. I've only fought Fighting Fefnir before, so I was at a disadvantage here.

I dashed up to Vent's side and we glared at the fire and ice duo. I don't know why they were after the Model W, but they were obviously up to no good. We had to stop them!

"Let's go!" I shouted.

Vent and I dashed forward towards the Mega Men who were once on our side.

[Database]

[Thetis - The Biomatch for Model L. A teenager who's slightly older than Lan and is aiming for cleansing the world's oceans.]

[Atlas - The Biomatch for Model F. She's aiming to improve the world through warfare.]


	13. Chapter 12 - Mega Man Model A

I dashed towards Serpent with lightning speed and slashed him in the body multiple times ruthlessly. I then jumped back and used the Double Shot Wave and sent him flying into the opposite side of the room. I wasn't satisfied yet and shot him some more, enjoying every single moment that passed.

_Destroy._

_Kill. _

I dashed to where Serpent laid and held him up by his neck with my left hand. I laughed as he squirmed in my grasp. The fear in his violet eyes drove me to choke him even more.

"Now... How should your petty life end?" I wondered aloud.

"Not... like this!" he choked out.

I threw him to the ground and stabbed him in the chest with my Z-Saber. Blood spurted out as I pierced through his white armor, staining it in red. I laughed some more and kicked Serpent around. This was so much fun! Toying with my prey was a feeling I haven't felt in a very long time. I couldn't help but savor the moment and continued to torture Serpent.

"St-Stop..." he gasped after I stabbed him in the leg. He was probably in so much pain that he couldn't feel anything anymore. How boring.

"Yes. That will be quite enough," said a female voice from behind me.

I whipped my head around and saw Pandora with Prometheus next to her.

"What are you two doing here?" I asked in disgust.

"We're going to awaken the Model Ws," Pandora answered.

Prometheus was more interested in me for some reason and walked towards me with glinting red eyes. He looked me up and down and smiled evilly.

"You're different from before..." he observed. "I can sense the killer inside of you wanting to break out."

"I could kill you both if I wanted to," I said arrogantly.

"Are you really that confident of yourself?" he laughed.

With lightning-fast speed, I grabbed a hold of his neck and held my Z-Saber a centimeter away from his neck.

"My... no need to be so hasty now," he chuckled nervously.

I heard a painful grunt and glanced in Serpent's direction. His endurance wasn't that bad, despite all of the damage he just received. Perhaps that was the power of Model W.

"Kuroyukihime... Listen to what I have to say," he said with a lot of effort.

"Why should I care about you?" I asked.

"Follow me... and I will show you the path to destruction," he said, now with an evil smile.

_Destruction._

_Annihilation. _

"Alright. I'll hear what you have to say and then I'll make my decision," I calmly said.

"We're going to start a new world... by destroying this one. Don't you remember what I told you before? Us Mega Men will be the rulers of the new world!"

"How are you going to do that?" I asked.

Serpent snapped his fingers and the cylindrical containers broke open. The humans that were in there all screamed in agony as they all transformed into small spherical objects and entered the many Model Ws. I stared at what was happening in awe. Model W was such a destructive tool! I wanted to use it to destroy everything in my path. A future of destruction awaited this world!

"Amazing..." I breathed out.

"Isn't it?" Serpent agreed.

The Model Ws showed that they were finished by resonating a sound that sounded weird, but very peaceful. It reminded me that I could kill whoever I wanted to whenever I wanted. It reminded me of death.

"Let's go," Serpent said, leaving with a limp. Pandora, Prometheus, and I followed him to the elevator and we ascended back to the mansion.

We walked outside and another spectacular phenomenon happened. A giant hole was created in the ground and the Model W fragments floated out of them with a dark pink aura surrounding them. Pink lightning sprouted out of most of them and hit the ground in front of us, creating Pseudoroids.

"So? What do you think, Red Mega Man?" Serpent asked me.

"I am not the Red Mega Man," I said coldly. "I am the Devil Mega Man now."

"Oh? Is it because of that new Biometal Model W created?"

"Possibly."

"I am intrigued. But first, your thoughts?"

I stared at the twenty or so Pseudoroids that stood in front of us, in front of the Model Ws, waiting for a command to destroy. With an army like this at our disposal, destroying the world couldn't be any easier. But there were other Mega Men that would try to stop us.

_Lan._

I could kill all of them. I was the God of Destruction, after all. Nobody could stop me. Not even Serpent and his little army.

"Very well. I'd like to see this new world you have in mind," I answered finally.

"Good, good!" he laughed hysterically.

The only thing I had to do now was to wait.

* * *

"Too bad we're not on land," I said while jumping away from Atlas's punch with her gun.

"You'd lose in an instant," she growled.

"You sure?"

I dodged another one of her attacks and slashed her in the side. Vent and I were doing well against Atlas and Thetis. These two had little to no synergy while Vent and I had plenty of it, probably because Zero and X were the best of partners.

Atlas planted a small bomb under me and dashed away. Due to my semi-aquatic abilities, I was able to move faster than Atlas underwater. I was able to catch up to her as she detonated the bomb. I caught her by the foot and threw her up. I pulled out the Buster Shot Gun and shot a few energy shots at her, hitting her square in the chest. I'd shoot more, but I didn't want to kill any of these people.

Meanwhile, Vent was fighting Thetis. He had more experience fighting all of the Guardians, since they were always together. There was also something weird going on with Thetis. His body, like his element, was freezing up from time to time. Was it because the Biometal refused to fight against its Master? Was it the same reason why I was having crazy chest pains in my fight against Vent?

"Pay attention to your enemy!" Atlas yelled as she pounded my head with her gun.

I fell through the rock I was standing on, causing me to sink deeper into the ocean. I wasn't sure if I had the ability to survive high pressures, so I wasn't going to risk falling down any further.

"This fighting is senseless!" I shouted back as I dashed back up.

"But I love fighting you!" Atlas said. "Wh-What? What did I just say?"

"Stop fighting against us! Fight _with _us!" I ignored the statement that obviously came from Fefnir.

"No. You seek to destroy the very thing that will bring peace to the world."

"Are you crazy?! Why do you suddenly believe Model W is your savior?" I yelled angrily.

"Master Albert will give us the power to become the ultimate Mega Man and I'll save the world with its power!" Atlas answered while firing a wave of explosive shots at me.

I dashed to the side, already seconds ahead of the trajectory of the energy shots. However, they unexpectedly changed direction towards me! I was too surprised to do anything and was struck multiple times, feeling the heat of the explosions.

_You are always frozen with shock when an enemy makes an unexpected move, _Zero observed. _You need to adapt faster. _

I didn't have the time to answer because of more explosive shots coming my way. I did something unexpected myself and dashed towards them. As I suspected, they were going to change direction in mid-air to confuse me if I was predicting their movements on the ground. Atlas was too busy firing shots to notice me creep up in front of her guns, which had a safe gap in between them. I pulled her arms apart and kicked her in the face as hard as I could. I felt a satisfying crunch beneath my boots and caught the unconscious Atlas.

"Vent, you done yet?!" I called to him.

Vent dodged an ice dragon that came from Thetis and shot Thetis with the double charged shot. His body struggled to move to keep on fighting, but Model L was now strong enough to stop his body from moving. Vent dashed over to Thetis and saved him from falling too far down.

"Where's the Model W?" Vent asked him.

"On... the surface..." Thetis struggled to say.

I nodded to Vent to say that I understood and dashed up to the surface with my left arm wrapped around Atlas's heavy body. Vent followed suit, holding Thetis with his right arm.

We emerged from the filthy ocean and saw the Model W fragment floating above the surface of the ocean just nearby. We swam towards it and felt it resonate some sort of power through us. I kind of saw how someone would be tempted to use the power of Model W, but I knew that Model W wasn't supposed to be used for good. Its only purpose was to destroy.

"I... was going to... cleanse the world's... oceans with this..." Thetis gasped.

"That's all you wanted to do?" I asked him.

"And punish... all humans."

"That's the Model W speaking! Don't give in to it!"

Thetis was trying to say something else, but we were interrupted by another person appearing. It was another girl with long blue hair in a ponytail, also a Mega Man. She didn't look like any Mega Man I've seen before, or any Legendary Hero. Her armor was dark blue and light gray with red accents and a red and dark blue chestplate. And unlike the other Mega Men, excluding my new form, she didn't look very bulky. Her helmet resembled Zero's, except that it had a bolt in the middle instead of a jewel.

"Who're you?" I asked.

"I'm Ashe, and I'm here for that booty!" she said.

"B-Booty? The Model W?"

"What else?"

"What do you plan on doing with the Model W?" I asked, suspicious. Was she on our side?

"That's none of your business," she said, suddenly serious. "Now get out of the way!"

"Sorry. No can do," I shrugged. "Vent, you think you can create an ice sheet for us to stand on? I'm kinda sick of fighting in the water."

"Sure," Vent answered.

Vent changed from his regular blue color to a much lighter shade. He, like the former Red Hero of the Accelerated World, probably changed forms to switch elements. He charged up and shot something underwater. After a few seconds, a rather large ice sheet floated up to the surface, creating something for us to all stand on.

"Take care of Atlas," I said, carefully handing her over to Vent.

I turned my attention to the new Mega Man and pulled out my Z-Saber.

"I'm Lan, the Red Mega Man. You'll have to get past me to get the Model W."

"I'm the Copy Mega Man. Nice to beat you!"

_As if it'd be that easy... _I thought to myself as Ashe dashed forward.

I attempted a weak slash to see what Ashe would do. She jumped up into the air and pulled out two guns, similar to Atlas's, and shot multiple shots of energy at me. I dodged all of them easily, since they weren't very fast. One of her guns sent out a ridiculously fast lightning bolt-like shot and struck me in the chest.

_What was that?_

_Pay attention! _Zero said.

I did as he told and continued to watch Ashe. She came towards me again and I noticed that one of her guns produced a faint purple light that stretched out to a certain range. That was probably a special Charged Shot.

I dashed away and shot the Buster Shot Gun to distract Ashe while I charged up my Z-Saber. She dodged the shots easily, which was what I kind of intended. Her other gun shot a laser shot at me, probably another Charged Shot. I slashed it away with my saber and it bounced off the ice sheet, which was unexpected, but it didn't do anything.

I dashed forward and let myself get caught in the light. As Ashe shot her special Charged Shot, I accelerated and dodged it with precise movement, surprising Ashe. I noticed that the shot kind of homed in on me was I dodged it, meaning that I should be careful when dodging it. I continued forward and smashed Ashe with my Z-Saber's Charged Shot.

"Ugh!" she grunted. "Not bad."

"Heh."

"A-Trans!" she shouted. As she said that, the gear on her head spun rapidly and created a flash of light.

Ashe transformed into Aeolus, which was really strange. She said she was the Copy Mega Man, but I expected something like Model X' copy ability. If she turned into Aeolus, did she have all of his abilities?

"Take this!" she cried in Aeolus's voice. She sent out two tornadoes at me.

Thankfully, I've already seen this move and knew very well how to dodge it. The tornadoes split in the middle, so I dashed right through it. Ashe didn't expect that I had already fought Aeolus, so she was caught off guard. I took this opportunity to pound her down into the ice with Entsuizan. Immediately after sending her down, I remained in the air and shot my Buster Shot Gun multiple times. I didn't see if any of them hit their target, but I went into Rakuretsuzan anyway.

As I fell, a giant familiar shuriken flew my way. I couldn't stop my descent, as I was already too low to slow down. I attempted to break the shuriken with my Z-Saber. The two weapons struck each other. I expected to bounce off, because the shuriken and the Z-Saber were made of practically the same material. However, I sliced right through it and fell onto a surprised Ashe.

The ice cracked but didn't break, which was really convenient. Ashe was sprawled out on the ice next to the Model W, in her normal transformed state, gasping for air.

"Wow... You're really... good," she huffed.

"Thanks," I replied. "We'll be destroying that Model W now."

"Wait, what?!" Ashe cried out, suddenly full of energy. "You were going to destroy it all along? Why didn't you just say so?"

"You kinda just rushed in guns blazing-" I began to say, but was interrupted by the Model W.

The Model W fragment began to resonate a strange, eerie sound. After listening intently, I began to hear voices as well.

"So... Red Mega Man?" said a voice that sounded familiar.

"Red Mega Man? Is he talking to me?" I asked.

"I'm... the Devil Mega Man," answered a different voice. Who was that?

The Model W fragment began to glow a disgusting shade of pink and floated up into the air. I sent an Ittou Ryoudan attack at it, slicing it in half in the process. It continued to rise into the air, but then began to explode. The explosion grew bigger and I covered my face with my right arm as we were enveloped in a hot white light.

After a few moments, the white light disappeared along with the Model W fragment.

"Did I destroy it?" I asked.

"Yep! Good job, Lan," Passy answered.

"Was it really that easy?"

"It was a Model W fragment by itself without much power. I believe destroying the other ones will be a bit more difficult."

"Ahh. That's too bad."

I looked at the Mega Men before me and held up my Z-Saber in victory. Although we've only destroyed one Model W fragment since the start of our journey, we were one step closer to stopping Serpent from executing his crazy plan.

"So... Now what?" Vent asked.

I tapped the area where my Neuro Linker would be and called an operator at the Grand Nuage.

"Mission successful. Please bring us back! We also have some luggage," I said.

"Hey! I am not luggage!" Ashe exclaimed.

"Will do, Lan-san," the operator replied.

* * *

Back on the Grand Nuage, the five of us Mega Men began to discuss the situation at hand.

"So, what was that Model W talking about?" Ashe asked.

"Model W wasn't talking. It was being used as a communication device, on accident too," I answered. "And I believe that was Serpent talking about destroying the world."

"But why would he do that?" Vent asked.

"I'm not sure. We'll ask him when we fight him again."

_I still can't believe Fuuko let him go, _I grumbled in my mind.

_You can't blame her. She barely has any idea how much danger the world is in right now, _Zero said.

"Why did you help us?" Atlas asked.

"You're my friends. Why would I kill you both?" Vent answered.

"We were trying to kill you..."

"Hey. We all make mistakes sometimes. I know you both want to change the world, but let's not get ahead of ourselves, alright? We gotta save it before changing it."

Atlas and Thetis understood and nodded their heads. I smiled, glad that we were able to change their minds. But when this was all over, would they just become enemies again, with a different goal than us?

"So, what's your story?" Vent asked Ashe.

"I'm part of the group called the Hunters. They found me when I was young and I grew up with them. I don't know much about my past and who I really am, so I'm just traveling the world and writing my story!" she said.

"How'd you get a Biometal?" I asked.

"There was a train transporting the Biometal to the government and I happened to be-"

"The government knows about Biometal?!" I exclaimed.

"I'm... not entirely sure. I was heading there to see if they had anything about me or my parents or something."

"Alright," I sighed. "Go on."

"Anywho, I was on the train and a crazy guy named Prometheus attacked me. He wanted the Biometal. But then the Biometal called out to me and told me to R.O.C.K. ON. That's about it, really."

"You copied Aeolus's and Siarnaq's Biometals too. How?" Vent asked.

"That's Model A's special ability! It can copy the DNA of a defeated Mega Man."

"Model... A," I murmured to myself.

Was there a Legendary Hero that had an A in his or her name? I could only think of the Four Guardians, X, and Zero. Those six were the Legendary Heroes, right? Ciel never said anything about a Model A. What was going on? And who was this Devil Mega Man? Devil... Where do I remember that name?

"What's on your mind, Lan?" Vent asked.

"Hmm? Nothing important. Don't worry about it," I said.

"Alright. Don't think too much about something."

I nodded in response. Vent decided that this was a good time to end the day and go back home. He gave everyone the address of Ciel's Lab so we could meet up there every day.

"I think... I'm gonna stay here for a bit," I said.

"Hmm? Alright. Don't worry your parents too much."

"They're hardly home, so it's fine," I replied.

"Alright then. Take care."

Soon, everyone left and it was just me. I got out of the control center and walked around the Grand Nuage some more, talking to some of the other Guardians. I went to the infirmary to ask where I could sleep, since I didn't want to fill up any space used for injured Guardians.

"Hey Rose!" I called out.

"Uhm... Hello Lan," she greeted shyly.

"Do you think I could take a nap somewhere in here without disturbing anyone?" I asked.

"W-Well... You could try that room," she said, pointing out a random room.

"Thanks. See you later," I waved.

"Y-Yeah. B-Bye," she stuttered.

I entered the room and found it vacant. There weren't any belongings, so I assumed that this was kind of like a guest room. The bed didn't look like it was used recently, so this was probably an okay place.

"Well, time to nap!" I said to no one in particular.

I pulled off my shoes and plopped onto the bed and fell asleep almost instantly.

[Database]

[Ashe - A girl who doesn't know much about who she is. Also the Biomatch for the mysterious Model A.]

[Biometal Model A - A Biometal that wasn't created by the late Ciel. Its Biomatch is Ashe. It doesn't know much about its past either, which makes it the perfect partner for Ashe.]


	14. Chapter 13 - An Endangered World

_Omega was a white duel avatar, just like Silver Crow had said. His avatar design was similar to a knight outfit, as it had a white overcoat. He had large white 'boots' and the rest of his body was black with a red design. His helmet was also black with a red design. It almost looked like a face, since his helmet had a 'mouth'. On top of his head was a streak of light purple hair, similar to my hair. On his back he carried a stone sword the size of himself! From what I could tell, the point resembled a cross._

_"Hello Red Hero," he spoke in a confident and deep voice._

_"Hello White Devil. Or should I call you Omega?" I responded._

_"I prefer to be referred to as Omega, thank you very much."_

_I walked towards him and stopped when we were about 20 meters apart. I stood, facing him with my head slightly tilted towards his head. From my peripheral vision, I noticed quite a crowd had gathered to see me fight against Omega._

_"Let's not waste any time, shall we?" I said._

_"I agree."_

_"Lan! Wake up!" said a different voice. Who was that? _

_"It's no use," said another voice. "You'll have to ring the loud alarm."_

_"Where is it?" _

_..._

_"Ahh, there it is!"_

**RRIIIIIINNNGGGG! RIIIIIIINNNNGGG!**

"Waaah!" I cried, waking up from an already forgotten dream. I quickly turned off the alarm clock and sat up.

I gazed at my surroundings with a blurry vision. I blinked my eyes a few times and rubbed them to make sure I wasn't still dreaming. I wasn't in my room, that's for sure. I was in a hotel-like room, except that it didn't feel like a hotel. I was in the air, I think...

That's right, I was in the Grand Nuage. The previous events went through my mind as if I were having a flashback. How long ago was that? One day? A few hours? I opened the clock on my Neuro Linker and found that it was one o'clock in the morning. How long was I out?

"You've been out for ten hours," Passy answered.

"Oh. Why did you decide to wake me up?" I asked her.

"Because Rose was having trouble waking you up." Passy pointed to Rose, who was sitting on my left side.

"How did I not notice you!" I exclaimed once I set my eyes on her.

"S-Sorry. I-I did m-my best to w-wake you.." she stuttered.

"Don't worry about it. Why did you want to wake me up in the first place?"

"Pr-Prairie wants y-you up in the c-command center."

"Oh. Okay. Thanks, Rose," I said with a smile.

I got out of bed and stretched my body, which felt fatigued still. I took one last look at Rose, who was as anxious and embarrassed as ever and left the room. I walked to the elevator and descended to the third floor, which was where the command center was located at. I walked past Guardians that were running about frantically. I wondered why they were in such a rush. Did something happen?

I entered the command center and found Vent, Ashe, Thetis, and Atlas standing in front of me. They looked kind of grumpy for some reason.

"Look who finally decided to show up," Ashe said.

"Sorry. I was tired," I chuckled nervously.

"I hope you're not tired enough to dispose of some Pseudoroids," said a new voice, which sounded like Prairie's.

The group turned around to face Prairie, who sat in a rather large chair that overlooked the front of the airship. She really looked like a commander now with her uniform on. Maybe it was the hat.

"I'm always ready to beat some Pseudoroids!" I said with a fist pump.

"Good, because they're all over the world right now."

"Not a pro- Wait, what? _All over the world?! _Are you serious?"

"I'm not one to joke about these kinds of things, Lan."

"Dude, you're so far behind," Vent chuckled.

"How did Pseudoroids get from Japan to the entire world?!" I asked.

"I'm not exactly sure, but I think it has to do with Serpent and Model W fragments. The main point is that we have to stop as many Pseudoroids as possible before the United Nations decide to go to war with these things," Prairie explained.

"Wait, wouldn't that be a good thing?"

"No. Pseudoroids can't be defeated by normal weapons. The only way to beat them is to destroy them with the power of a Biometal. Otherwise, they'll just end up regenerating themselves."

"All because of Model W, right?"

"Correct. Now we're going to try to get to as many places as possible."

"Where are we right now?" I asked while looking out the front window.

"We're over Japan still. According to our analysis, there are more Pseudoroids in Japan and locations close to Japan. There are a few in areas in Europe, as well as the United States."

"Ugh. So we'll be flying everywhere, huh..."

"The Grand Nuage is powered by the Ciel System, which means the transerver is too. You can teleport to different locations and we'll retrieve you when you're done dealing with the Pseudoroids."

"Alright. So when are we gonna fight?"

"Now. Is everyone ready?"

"Yes!" everyone said.

"Good! Head for the transerver and I'll provide locations for everyone."

The team moved into the transerver room and waited patiently for Prairie's command. It's been a while since a team like this has gathered. The only people we were missing were Aeolus, Siarnaq, and Kuroyukihime. Well, Fuuko too, but she isn't a Biomatch for any Biometal.

"Alright, so this is how it's going to work," Prairie said over the intercom, "Thetis and Atlas are going to America, Ashe and Vent are going to take care of the Pseudoroids in Europe, and Lan's working on his own in Japan."

"That's quite a large area for each of us to cover," Atlas stated.

"I know. We'll have to do our best."

We all nodded at one another and pulled out our Biometals.

"R.O.C.K. ON!" well cried at the same time.

Atlas's transformation was her being engulfed in a pillar of fire. Thetis's was encasing himself in ice and then breaking out as Model L. As for the remaining Mega Men, we just flashed white and reappeared as our corresponding Hero.

"So, no flashy transformation for Model A?" I joked.

"I expected something cool from Model Z," Ashe retorted.

"Let's compare transformations later, okay guys?" Vent groaned.

Thetis and Atlas entered the teleporter first. They selected their destination and disappeared after a few seconds. Vent and Ashe went next. After they disappeared, I entered and looked up locations for me. I had the most places to choose from, since the most Pseudoroids were in Japan. I picked a random location and teleported. But before that...

"What exactly do I do when I kill a Pseudoroid? I have no means of transportation!" I said.

"Japan isn't that big. You can walk," Prairie answered.

"... Are you serious?!"

Just then, the teleporter began to make loud noises. I couldn't hear what Prairie said over the intercom in response to my surprised reaction. I was soon separated into little particles of data and moved into a different area.

I reappeared in an unfamiliar area full of chaos and destruction. The buildings around were all damaged, the street signs were all bent or toppled over, and there were injured citizens everywhere. I dashed past the injured civilians to look for the Pseudoroid that caused this mess. I also tried my best to save as many people as I could from danger.

"It's the Red Hero!" a woman cried.

"Save us from that… that thing!" a man said, pointing to the sky.

I shifted my gaze up and saw a flying green Pseudoroid in the sky. It was shooting laser beams from its wings and feet, as well as zooming around the buildings. It was very fast, resembling something like Harpuia.

I waited for it to come around again, and when it did, I jumped into the air at the right time to tackle it, stopping it mid-flight.

"Oomf!" it grunted, startled.

I didn't waste any time and slashed both of its wings off with my Z-Saber. I heard a rather loud metallic sound that didn't sound very good for the Pseudoroid after slashing both wings. Perhaps that was its weak spot? I pushed the thought away for the moment and slashed the Pseudoroid down with Entsuizan. I then chased it down with Rakuretsuzan.

I landed directly on its chest, pushing it deep into the ground. I pulled my Z-Saber out and checked if the Pseudoroid was still alive by kicking it a few times. Then I spoke to it.

"Hey. You still alive?" I asked.

It coughed a few times and responded with, "Just kill me already, Red Mega Man."

"I want to know who you're working for."

"You'll have to kill me first!"

_It's no use, Lan. You're not going to get any information out of him, _Zero said.

I dealt the deathblow to the green Pseudoroid shortly it told me to kill it. Its eagle-like head fell back and the light flickered in its eyes.

"Poor misguided fool. Your end draws near as a new age is beginning!" It gasped out.

"Well, it gave us something when it died," I remarked.

I turned around and knew that there were more Pseudoroids to take care of. Some of them may be tougher than this one, others were probably at the same strength. I couldn't let my guard down, no matter what.

"You also have to save all of these people," Passy added.

"That's true. But I'm just _one _person. I can't save everyone, no matter how hard I try," I replied with a glum expression.

"Just do what you can. Everyone will understand."

I nodded and dashed to the destroyed buildings to search for people. Although there was no longer a visor over my face, I was still able to scan for the presence of humans. I slashed my way through burning rubble and toppled interiors to look for barely living people. After about thirty minutes of looking through buildings, I saved roughly thirty or so people.

"Thank you so much!" a young woman thanked me after getting her out of a collapsing building.

"No problem. Make it back safely, okay?" I said gently.

"Yes, I will. Thank you again!"

She walked towards the medics that were scattered throughout the area. There were attacks all over Japan, so I doubt anyone was ready for thousands of people to get injured. Hospitals were going to get full easily, and food supplies were going to get drained. Is this what Serpent wanted?

I was about to dash away until I was stopped by a man in a military uniform. He held an assault rifle and pointed it at me for some reason.

"What is it?" I asked slowly.

"You always appear when things like this happen. Care to answer why? Is this all a set up for you to look like a hero?" he asked with hostility.

"You wouldn't understand even if I explained it to you."

"How dare you!"

He was about to pull the trigger on his gun, but I used Physical Burst at the right time and disarmed him. I held the assault rifle in my left hand and looked it over with sudden interest.

"You think you can take on those Pseudoroids with this flimsy weapon?" I mocked.

"That is the standard weapon for engaging enemies!" he responded hotly.

"It's not enough. The best you could do to them would be to blow off their legs. That's about it."

"What do you mean?!"

"Your guns won't kill them. Only my weapons can. You should probably tell your head officers that."

And with that, I threw the gun back at the soldier. He caught it in surprise and tried to aim his gun at me, but I was too quick and dashed around a corner. After a few moments, I received a call from Prairie. I tapped my neck and accepted the call.

"Praire, what is it?" I asked.

"Lan! I thought you were in Japan!" she said with worry.

"I am. What's wrong?"

"Vent says he's getting attacked by you!"

"…What? Are you sure?" I was interested as well as worried.

"If you're still in Japan, who could be attacking Vent?"

"Hold on, I found another Pseudoroid. Pick me up in a minute or so!" I said hurriedly as I saw another Pseudoroid wreaking havoc in front of me.

I dashed toward it and slashed its rather large back. It was a purple Pseudoroid with giant shield-like arms and a monkey face. I made a large wound in its back and jumped back as it responded with spinning around like a top.

"Ooooh! Who did that?!" it exclaimed, returning back to normal. It looked around and saw me with my Z-Saber in my right hand.

"It was you, wasn't it?! You'll pay for that, Red Mega Man!"

"We'll see about that," I replied.

I dashed toward the Pseudoroid and used Reppuugeki to take it down in one hit. However, I underestimated my opponent and it jumped high into the air. I looked up and saw it hanging on some tough wires and threw down black spherical objects. I slashed one in half and it blew up in response.

"Gah! Bombs!" I coughed. I dodged the other ones raining down on me and leapt to where the Pseudoroid was.

I used Entsuizan to send it back to the ground. As I landed the slash, I heard another sharp metallic sound come from the Pseudoroid. Was I hitting its weak spot? I wasn't exactly sure where it was, since I landed the hit when I was facing the ground for a split millisecond.

The Pseudoroid flew down to the ground and landed with a loud crash. I dashed down and used Sentsuizan, a move more devastating than Rakuretsuzan when I'm dashing down from a tall height. I landed the hit directly on one of its shield-like arms and heard the sharp metallic sound ring in my ears. The arm was cut in half and the forced of the attack pushed the Pseudoroid further into the ground.

"Are you gonna talk?" I asked it.

"Ha ha ha… Like I'll ever do that!" it laughed hysterically.

I swung one final blow to end its miserable life and cut it in half. Like with the previous Pseudoroid, it gave me its final words.

"Lord Serpent! Take my spirit, I freely give it to Model W!"

I didn't respond to the strange message it said. Instead, I looked up and found the Grand Nuage directly above me. I was about to wonder how I was going to get in there, but then was surrounded by a white light. After a split second, I found myself on the Grand Nuage, inside the transerver room.

"What just happened?" I asked mostly to myself.

"I teleported you in here," Prairie replied as she stepped into the room.

"Oh. Anyway, what was with the confusion?"

"Vent's in trouble. You have to help him."

"He's in Europe! There's no one here to save the people in Japan," I argued.

"Do you want him to die?" Prairie whispered harshly.

I stared at her blue eyes for a bit before answering. I had a choice to make. I could stay in Japan and fight off the Pseudoroids that were terrorizing it, or I could go to Europe and help Vent out. Whichever decision I chose, people would die.

"Passy, do you know how to create Biometals?" I asked.

"Wh-What? What do you mean?" she stammered.

"A Biometal doesn't exactly need a Legendary Hero to be in it, right? It just needs battle data?"

"That's true, but where are you going to find battle data?"

"Brain Burst. It's the only way. We'll have our own army!"

Passy thought to herself for a few moments. Then she faced me with determined blue eyes that reminded me of Ciel's one year ago.

"Okay. I'll do my best. Call your troops in, Lan!"

"Lan, just what do you plan on doing…?" Prairie asked.

"I'm going call up some Burst Linkers and you're going to listen to Passy's command."

"But I-"

"This is the only way. Believe in me."

Prairie stared at me with worried eyes. They reminded me of a little girl's who always hid behind an older sibling or parent.

I returned to my normal state and cabled with Prairie quickly. Passy understood what I wanted and moved into Prairie's Neuro Linker. Passy disappeared from my shoulder for a few seconds before reappearing on Prairie's hat.

"I'll want her back," I said with a smile.

"I know. Just do what you have to do."

There wasn't much time, but as a Burst Linker, I had plenty of time. I accelerated and pulled up the matching list for the program Brain Burst. With that, I contacted as many people as I could. The first people I went for were the ones who were a part of Nega Nebulous, my Legion. I sent them Prairie's Neuro Linker ID and told them to message her their addresses so she could pick them up.

I even asked the Kings of each Legion. Unfortunately, some of them refused to take part in my plan, probably thinking it was a plan to take out all of the Kings. In the end, I only got the Blue King and Green King to join. Ash Roller couldn't join because of personal reasons I couldn't figure out.

In the end, I recruited about fifteen people. It was enough to spread them all over Japan, hopefully.

"I'm ready to go," I said.

"Already? Barely a second has passed!" Prairie exclaimed, amazed.

"That's the power of a Burst Linker," I winked.

"Well, I just received a flood of messages right now. I'll input the coordinates closest to Vent and you'll be able to teleport to him with the transerver."

"Alright. R.O.C.K. ON!"

I transformed back into the Red Hero and jumped into the teleporter. After going through the process that I've experienced a few times too many, I ended up in some place in Europe. I noticed a familiar tower and realized that I was in France. But I wasn't here for sightseeing. I was here to find out the person who looked like me. I had a really bad feeling about this.

_Are you thinking what I'm thinking? _Zero asked.

_I dunno, you're the guy who knows what I'm thinking. _I replied.

_Heh. _

"Model Z, start tracking Model X!" I commanded.

"Roger."

I red waypoint appeared on my HUD the pointed in front of me. I dashed forward and hopped over rubble. There was destruction and chaos everywhere, just like back in Japan. The waypoint was telling me I was getting closer, which kind of worried me. If it wasn't moving, then Vent was more than likely to be dead. Either that, or he was trapped somewhere and my imposter abandoned him.

I turned a corner and saw Vent lying down on the ground in his transformed state. I ran to where he was and kneeled down next to him. His armor and helmet were badly damaged, but he was still breathing. But only barely.

"Vent! Are you okay?" I called out to him.

His eyes fluttered open and he stared at me with his green eyes. His mouth moved slowly, but no sound came out of them. Who could have done this much damage to Vent? Although I asked myself that, I felt like I already knew the answer.

I heard a figure approach and looked up. In front of me was a red figure with long flowing black hair. Their features were exactly like mine, except for the color of hair.

"Omega?!" I called out. But Omega didn't have black hair.

Omega's eyes shifted toward me and bright red eyes with a familiar face pierced through my soul.

"K…Kuroyuki…hime?" I breathed.

"We meet again, Red Hero," she said with an evil sound in her voice. "I've been waiting for you to appear."

"What… What have you done to her?!"

"What are you talking about? I'm still Kuroyukihime. I've just accepted the power of Biometal Model O."

"Th-That's crazy!" I shouted angrily, "Kuroyukihime would never do anything like that!"

"Say what you will, but it's the truth," she laughed.

"She's using two Biometals right now, Model Z and Model O," Model Z said.

I've been at half power for how long now? I didn't stand a chance against half of Model Z and all of Model O, even if Zero took over. There was no way we were going to defeat Omega this time around.

_Are you going to go into Zero Fill again? Or are you going to stand and fight once more?_

"But it's Kuroyukihime…"

_You can't let that stop you. _

"If it was Ciel right there, what would you do, Zero?"

_…_

I made my choice and stood up with the will to fight. This moment felt very nostalgic. I remember feeling defeat one year ago in my fight against the God of Destruction portion of Zero, also known as Omega. But Kuroyukihime and Zero said words of encouragement to egg me on. Despite the odds, I chose to fight the God of Destruction.

The words echoed in my mind once more.

**STAND HERO. STAND AND FIGHT!**

[Database]

[Omega - The name given to the God of Destruction portion that was separated from the original Zero. Previously had three forms before revealing his true and ultimate form.]


	15. Chapter 14 - Hero vs Devil Round 3

I ignored the fact that the world was in danger right now. I ignored the thoughts of saving everyone. The only important thing right now was to free Kuroyukihime from Omega's curse. I focused all of my thoughts into my battle instincts and prepared for battle.

Kuroyukihime smiled evilly and dashed towards me with lightning speed. I blocked her Z-Saber with mine, causing us to bounce away from each other. She didn't take any time to recover and dashed back at me. I dodged this time and slashed her side as she flew by. I turned around and readied myself for a counterattack. I saw two Charged Shots fly towards me and slashed them away. I was already waiting for the sonicboom from the Z-Saber since I've already seen this move, the Double Shot Wave, before.

We both dashed at each other at the same time. I used Reppuugeki to impale my opponent, forgetting for a few moments that I was facing Kuroyukihime. However, she disappeared into thin air right as I was about to stab her. I stopped in my tracks, but found that to be a mistake after feeling a burning electric shock.

"Raikousen always gets them," Kuroyukihime laughed.

I didn't reply and shot a few shots of my Buster Shot Gun at her. She had new moves to show me as well, it seemed. I thought I knew everything about Omega from our previous battles, but it's been a long time. Perhaps he didn't show me everything.

We both jumped into the air and used our airborne techniques. I used Ensuizan, a simple and quick spinning slash. Kuroyukihime used the same move, at least, I thought so, until small crescent waves were sent out in different directions. I didn't have much time to respond and was struck by one. Upon getting hit, I was encased in ice and fell down to the ground. I landed hard and attempted to break out as best as I could before Kuroyukihime could land another hit.

"Rekkoha!" she cried.

"Urk!"

The pillars of light rained down on me, dealing massive damage to me. I felt the heat and power of the light as I felt them crush me into the ground. I slowly got back up, but not before feeling the blade of the pink Z-Saber in my abdomen. My vision was getting blurry from all of the pain I was feeling so far. Any more and my body would begin to shut down.

_I'll take over from here, _Zero offered.

"No... Not yet..." I gasped.

"Hmm? Not ready to die yet?" Kuroyukihime sneered.

I roared at the top of my lungs and pulled her saber out of my body. I performed a triple-slash combo and used Shoeunga to send Kuroyukihime into the air. Then I pulled out the Buster Shot Gun and shot her multiple times, keeping her in the air for an extended period of time. I dashed up and was about to slash her down into the ground, but she already recovered from my hits and grabbed my face with her left hand. I was shoved down back to the ground before I knew it.

"Too weak," she laughed.

What could I do? No matter how many times I slashed her, she would just get back up and fight as if I did nothing to her. There would be no end to the fighting.

_Get back up and fight. You have to win._

I struggled to get up again, but Kuroyukihime was too strong. She was holding my head down and I felt her crushing my helmet as the seconds rolled by. Then her other hand went to my neck and I felt her choke the air out of me.

"This is too much fun!"

"Ku... Kuro... hime... Stop...!" I gasped.

"You can't stop me from killing you!" she shrieked.

"Who... are you... killing?"

"The Red Hero, of course! Who else could you be?!"

"L...Lan. Doesn't that name... mean..."

I blacked out as Kuroyukihime choked the last remaining breaths of air I had.

* * *

He stopped breathing before finishing his sentence. At that very moment, I released him from my grasp and I stared at my hands in horror. What was I doing to him? Why was I choking the one I loved with my own hands?

"Lan!" I cried out, reaching for him. But a sharp pain on my forehead caused me to freeze in place.

_He is the enemy. Kill him._

"No! That's Lan! He's not the enemy!"

I gently caressed his face, regretting the things I was doing to him. No, it wasn't me who was doing that. It was the destructive mind of the Biometal I chose to fuse with to escape from Serpent's grasp. I needed to fight it and get rid of it.

_You will kill him._

The pain in my forehead intensified as the voice continued to tell me to kill Lan. It took my all to reject the thoughts that were being poured into my mind. I wanted to revert back to my normal form. I didn't want to kill Lan. I needed to stop this before it got out of hand!

_It's too late. You've already decided your own fate. You will follow the path of destruction._

"_Ahhh!_" I screamed as the pain grew unbearable.

I fell to the ground and stared at Lan's broken body in front of me. I reached out with my right hand and touched his face one last time.

"I'm sorry..." I breathed out.

After a few moments, I got up and pulled out my Z-Saber. I was going to kill the Red Hero and end his miserable life. Why did he believe he could stop me? After all, he only had half of a Biometal. He couldn't even access all of his skills. The destiny of the world was set in stone. There was no reason for the Red hero to continue to fight.

As I was about to deal the final blow, his right arm jerked up and averted the blow. I stared at the Red Hero, astonished at his capabilities. How could someone as weak as him be able to deflect one of my blows?

"It's not over yet," he said. His voice sounded slightly different, but I couldn't figure out why.

"Die already, Red Hero," I said harshly.

He stood up without shaking and glared at me with piercing green eyes. They were the eyes of a determined person with something else in them. I've seen these eyes before, but where? I shrugged the thought away and charged towards my enemy.

I pulled out two Z-Sabers and slashed the Red Hero violently and relentlessly. He responded with quick and precise movements that blocked or dodged all of my swings. Then he jumped back a few meters and threw his Z-Saber at me.

Never has the Red Hero ever let go of his weapon in battle. Although I was caught off guard, I responded in time and blocked the Z-Saber that almost struck me in the chest. I returned my gaze back to the Red Hero, but found that he had disappeared. Where could he have gone so quickly?

"Come out, you coward," I growled.

"Right behind you," he whispered into my ear.

I whipped my head around to face him, but was punched in the face. I flew back a few meters before recovering. I stared back at the Red Hero with hatred and anger burnt into my eyes. I wanted to kill him more than ever. He was my enemy. He was halting the Earth's destiny of destruction.

He picked up his Z-Saber and dashed towards me shouting, "Ranbu!"

The seven hit-combo, huh? Well, Red Hero, I have a nice surprise for you!

"Starburst Stream!" I shouted back.

I expected to see a flash of uncertainty in his eyes, but either I missed it, or he never felt uncertainty. With my two blades, I executed the sixteen-hit combo against the Red Hero's seven-hit combo. He couldn't possibly block all of my attacks!

I swung my right arm and clashed against his one Z-Saber. I was already swinging my left arm when our hits connected, meaning I would be faster than him. Unexpectedly, his arm that held the Z-Saber sped up and clashed against my other blade, blocking the strike. I continued to attack in what felt like a slow motion battle.

His seventh hit was the rising slash, which made him open to any attack for a brief period of time. I was about to land the eighth slash, but he did something unexpected at the last moment. His body became slightly transparent at the very moment my Z-Saber touched him. I realized at the very moment what he was doing.

In less than a second, he Shadow Dashed right through me and struck me in the back with a powerful hit. Having my combo interrupted, I was able to move away from his other attacks.

"Death by Barraging!" I shouted as I dashed towards my opponent again.

The Red Hero grinned as if he was going to be the victor of the battle. I should have seen this coming, since he knew all of her attacks. Why did I decide to use that move?

I attempted to pierce him with every strike, but he expertly dodged all of them. After the move was done, he kicked my face and sent me flying into a building. The fragile building fell apart on itself as soon as I made contact with it, trapping me inside. Or at least, that's what he thought.

I broke out almost immediately and tapped into the Overdrive Invoke System. I didn't expect to use it on him, of all people, but I needed to stop him from foiling our plans.

_You mean Serpent's plans, _said a voice in my head.

I ignored the voice and rushed forward with newfound strength. I saw the flicker of uncertainty in his eyes and smiled evilly. It was all over for him! I hit him hard with my body while stabbing his abdomen in the process with both of my Z-Sabers. There was no doubt that he would die after this.

We landed on the spot where we met, next to the fallen Blue Mega Man. He wasn't much of a challenge. The only thing that annoyed me about him was the fact that he had a wide variety of weapons. Thankfully, the Red Hero didn't keep that trait from the Accelerated World.

I pulled the two Z-Sabers out and sheathed both of them. The Red Hero laid down on the ground, unmoving. He was certainly dead now. There was no denying it.

I received a call from Serpent and answered it.

"Are you done there?" he asked.

"Yes. The Red Hero and the Blue Mega Man are no more," I replied.

"I underestimated your power. Return to HQ. We're almost ready to finish what we started."

"I understand. I'll be there soon."

I exited the call and walked away from the fallen Heroes, snickering. I was itching to destroy more things. However, I felt a feeling that I haven't felt in ages. I felt tired. All that just from fighting the late Red Hero.

"You never had what it took to be a Hero," I said to him before dashing away.

* * *

_I did my best, Zero. I fought as hard as I could._

_You did well, for a person at half power. I'm proud of you. _

_It's too bad I couldn't stop her. I wish I was stronger…_

"Lan…" said a voice.

I opened my eyes and tilted my head towards the voice. It came from the downed Blue Hero next to me, Vent. I couldn't see very clearly, but I could tell he was holding something in his hand. It was a blue object that looked like…

"Take… it," he said softly.

"You… need… it…" I replied weakly.

His green eyes focused on me and he spoke in a stronger voice, "Never... give up... You still have something... you must protect."

If Vent wanted me to take his Biometal, I had no choice but to do so. Besides, that was the only option here. If I didn't take it, I would always lose against Omega. If I took it, I would at least have a chance. But Vent…

I made my decision and used all of my willpower to grab Model X from Vent's hands. He smiled in response and he said his last words before the light in his eyes flickered away.

"I'd like… to see… a better… world."

And with that, Vent was no more. Like Ciel, his body glowed brightly and disappeared into a blue ball of light.

I sighed shakily and held up Model X. Its eye slits flashed white and it began to speak.

"It's not possible for you to survive these wounds, even if you perform a Double R.O.C.K. ON. You're going to need immediate attention."

I tapped my neck and called Prairie. I hoped that she wasn't too busy and would reach me in time. This time, I didn't have a Dark Elf to save me. All I had was Prairie, and she was thousands of kilometers away. I put all of my faith into her.

"Yes, what is it Lan?" she answered.

"I need... help... now," I said weakly.

"I understand. I'm on my way!"

My entire body was beginning to shut down. My legs wouldn't work, nor would my arms. I had lost a lot of blood already, and help was too far away. There was a pretty big chance that my story would end here. I wanted to stand up and continue fighting, but the human body has its limits. If I were a machine like Zero or had a body like Dr. Weil's, I could continue on.

The screams of the French citizens finally reached my ears. All of the sounds that I drowned out in my fight against Kuroyukihime were now coming back to me. I couldn't do anything to save these people. I overestimated myself. The only thing I could do now was wait.

I heard something heavy land near me. It was probably a Pseudoroid about to finish me off. As it neared closer to my head, my vision became fuzzy and my hearing got worse. I was almost dead. A few more seconds and I would be.

I sighed my last breath and closed my eyes.

* * *

_I opened my eyes and saw the exterior of my house. I looked down and didn't find a body, meaning I was probably dead and I was viewing the real world. But that thought slipped away when I saw a younger version of myself walk out of the house, waving goodbye to my parents. He stepped out of the fenced area and walked to the direction of my old elementary school that no longer stands. It was destroyed during the Ragnarok incident, like many other things. _

_The younger me had the same features as the present, dead me. The brown hair, green eyes, and a childish face. He was slightly taller than the other males in his class, and was secretly popular among the young girls. He made lots of friends and spent lots of time with all of them. _

_I watched my younger self go through the normal school day. He liked to talk to his classmates a lot, often getting in trouble because of it. But he was a good student who made good marks. I didn't realize it until now, but I lived a very good childhood compared to other people. I didn't have problems at home, little at school, and was very active._

_Today was a day I remembered clearly. It was where the younger students played sports with some older students because it was a special occasion. I was average at best at playing sports, but my reaction speed made me amazing at catching or dodging balls. Today, we played dodgeball against an older class. I didn't pay much attention to them, because I was talking to my friends. But as I gazed at the other class as a different individual, I noticed one person that I will meet later in my life. _

_Kuroyukihime went to the same elementary school as me, and was in the same dodgeball game as I was. How did I not remember this? _

_As I watched the classes duke it out, I noticed that Kuroyukihime was dodging every dodgeball with precise movement. She's had Brain Burst for a long time, so this was to be expected. But her mouth didn't move, meaning that she wasn't even accelerating. _

_The younger me threw dodgeballs at her, but she dodged them without even breaking a sweat. He was amazed at her skills, but didn't take much note of it, since she was graduating this year. Kuroyukihime threw a dodgeball at him thinking she caught him off guard, but he reacted amazingly and caught the ball. She was stunned for a few moments before sitting down in the out zone. _

_As the game ended, the younger me walked away while chatting with his friends while Kuroyukihime watched him intently. I could see in her eyes that she wanted to talk to him, but was scared of his friends. She decided that it was probably just luck and walked in the opposite direction towards her best friend, Megumi. _

_However, she turned her head back and continued to look at him._

_"I'll be waiting for you," her lips said. _

I opened my eyes again and found myself in a familiar room. I rubbed my eyes and noticed that it was the same room I woke up in hours, perhaps a day, ago. The lights were dimmed and there was a Guardian with purple hair sitting on a stool next to my bed. She was asleep with her head next to my body.

"Rose?" I whispered. I was surprised to find how hoarse my voice was.

She didn't wake up from just me whispering her name, which was something to be expected. I pulled the blanket down that covered me and saw that my torso was covered in several layers of bandages. Looking at how tired Rose was, she probably had to change them multiple times because of how serious the injuries were.

I was about to get out of bed as the door to the room opened and Prairie walked in. Her eyes grew big and she hurried over to me.

"How are you feeling?" she asked in a hushed voice.

"Fine, I guess. I'm not dead, at the very least," I replied with an awkward smile.

"What about Vent?"

"Vent... Vent is dead."

Prairie held her head in her hands and began to cry quietly. I rested my hand on her head and rubbed it gently. I knew this was tough for Prairie, since she had already lost Ciel. What would she do if I died? Did she have it in her to continue on without the two Heroes?

"It's alright, Prairie," I whispered. "Vent's death wasn't for nothing. I promise you that."

Before I could say any more, the door to the room opened again and a familiar figure strode in. She looked at me with her brown eyes and smiled.

"You're awake at last, Lan," Fuuko greeted.

"How was fighting the Pseudoroids?" I asked.

"It was tough. They're less predictable than normal Burst Linkers, but we handled them well." She finally noticed Prairie and wrapped her arms around her.

"We lost Vent today," I informed her.

"Oh. I'm so sorry."

Suddenly, the door opened and more people streamed inside the room. Some of them I knew, since they were the members of Nega Nebulous. A small and chubby boy named Arita Haruyuki was Silver Crow. His friends Mayuzumi Takumu and Kurashima Chiyuri were Cyan Pile and Lime Bell respectively. The others were boys and girls who seemed to be freshmen of a high school or seniors of a middle school. They didn't seem too glum, so perhaps we didn't lose anyone in our battle today.

"You must be the Red Hero," said a tall boy.

"Yes, that's who I am. How did it go for you guys?"

"Excellent. The Pseudoroids that were terrorizing Japan have all been eliminated. I'm surprised at the power of the Biometal."

"And who are you?" I asked.

"I'm the Blue King. I see that the Black King chose her _child _wisely."

"How do you know I'm her _child?_"

"Heh. That's not important right now."

"Erm, just so you guys know, Prairie was crying just a few mo-"

"I'm fine!" Prairie suddenly said while whipping her head up from the bed. Her eyes were a bit red, but other than that, she seemed fine now.

Rose finally woke up and stared at the amount of people in the room in panic. I don't think she was used to seeing so many people in one room at once. She usually treated one patient at a time because she was so nervous around people, so seeing this might cause her to go into some sort of shock...

"W-W-Waahhh!" she cried, running out of the door.

After a few moments, everyone started to laugh. They weren't being mean or anything, at least, I hope not. It was just something really unexpected. Besides, we all needed some laughing time. The world was in a state of panic right now due to those Pseudoroids.

"Your idea worked," Prairie said to me.

"I can see that it did," I replied, smiling at the Burst Linkers who stood in front of me.

"Get some more rest. We'll sort things out after you've recovered some more."

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

"I have to. You almost died out there."

This wasn't the first time I almost died. I sighed and finally agreed to rest some more. Soon, the room emptied and it was just me. I laid back down and stared at the ceiling for quite some time before closing my eyes.

_Just wait a little longer, Kuroyukihime._


	16. Chapter 15 - Invasion

I woke up to the sound of someone yawning rather loudly. I opened my eyes slowly and stared at the figure who rose over me.

"Oh. I'm sorry for waking you," said a familiar voice.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"You don't recognize me? Well, we only met briefly, but you should at least remember who I am."

I immediately recognized the person because of their attitude.

"Ashe, what are you doing here?" I chuckled.

"Came to check up on you. Figure the person I saved couldn't be that weak."

"You saved me?"

"Of course. I transformed into one of those flying Pseudoroids and flew you here."

"You have my thanks."

"You owe me big time! I saved your life!" she said, suddenly serious.

"S-Seriously? Do you take advantage of every situation?" I sighed.

"Of course I do!" she smiled.

"Alright... What do you want?"

"I'll get it after all of this is over. I'm a patient girl."

"You're definitely _not_ patient."

Then the door to the room opened and Prairie stepped in. She was surprised to see Ashe in here, as well as seeing me awake. She had a look of concern on her face and walked over.

"Is Ashe bothering you?" she asked.

"Hmm? No, it's fine. What's up?" I replied.

"Things aren't looking too good. The United Nations are preparing nuclear weapons for the next attacks. If we don't stop Serpent quickly, the entire world will be destroyed by the humans trying to protect it."

"Uhm... All of the Model Ws have been collected by him, right?" I asked.

"Yes. But the Model W tracker doesn't even work!"

"Passy is here, right? I'm sure she'll know how to fix it."

Prairie sighed and gave in. She pulled out a cable from her coat pocket and cabled with me. I felt like we were playing an old video game, where people could trade these things called "Pokemon". Passy felt like a Pokemon right now, not to be mean or anything. I chuckled at the thought and Prairie looked at me weirdly.

"It's nothing," I reassured her.

"Okay..."

"I'm not crazy. Actually, I could be _slightly _crazy..."

She laughed and opened up her HUD. She tapped the air a few times and while she was doing that, I noticed Passy on Prairie's hat. She smiled down at me, happy to see me alive and well.

Soon, she was transferred back to my Neuro Linker. She disappeared from Prairie's hat and reappeared on my shoulder, just like old times. Well, 'old times' only started a week or so ago. Has it only been that long?

"Passy, I have a program that can track down the Model Ws, but it hasn't been working for a while now. Do you think you could fix it?" I asked her.

"I'll do my best," she answered.

Passy stared blankly into space for a few moments and then suddenly disappeared. It was all a matter of time before Passy fixed the tracker. Then we'll be able to find Serpent and crush him once and for all!

"Can you walk?" Prairie asked as she unhooked the cable.

"I think so, yeah," I said as I started to get up. I felt a little bit wobbly, but other than that, I was fine.

Prairie helped me out of the room with Ashe trailing behind us. As we passed by Guardians, every single one of them saluted me. Either that or it was for Prairie since she was the commander of the Guardians.

"Are they saluting you?" I asked.

"Not at all. They're doing that for you because you saved the world for the mean time."

"Is that so?" I chuckled. It seems like my full-time job was to save the world from all threats. If I ended up like this every other day, I don't think I'm fit for the job.

We entered the command center after passing the smallest Guardian around, who called himself Fleuve. The door opened and I found the other Mega Men, new and old, sitting around, including Siarnaq and Aeolus. Has the curse of Model W lifted from their minds as well? Or did they need to be subdued?

"Yo," I greeted everyone.

"Good afternoon Lan," Fuuko said with a smile.

"GREETINGS," Siarnaq said in his annoying robot voice.

"Is there any way to turn that off?" I asked kind of rudely.

"We're working on that," Prairie chuckled.

Ashe walked past us and stood in the center of the room. She then turned around and spoke to everyone in a commanding manner. Who did she think she was?

"Now that everyone's gathered, I want Lan to tell us what happened to Vent!"

That's right. Only Prairie knows that Vent died... however long ago that was.

"W-Well..." I began, "Vent died in the battle for Europe."

The room grew silent after I spoke those words. Vent's old friends glanced at each other with mixed expressions, even Aeolus, who believed he was the best out of all of us, was shocked. I expected to see him shrug the news off as if it were an annoying bug. It seems Vent's friends were back to normal. It was unfortunate that he wasn't alive to be with them again.

"And what about his Biometal?" Ashe asked, quieter this time.

"I have it," I answered.

I reached down to my waist to grab it. I don't remember putting it there, but it was present along with Model Z. They both floated up beside me in silence as everyone stared at me.

"So who can use Model X now?" Atlas asked.

"I'll show you!" I said with anticipation. Then I looked at Prairie and asked her with my eyes if it was okay. Thankfully, she nodded as an answer.

"Double R.O.C.K. ON!" I shouted while holding both Biometals.

I powerful surge of energy flowed through my body, causing it to hurt a bit. I wasn't used to the double transformation, so minor aches and pains were bound to happen, and I also hadn't fully recovered from my injuries yet.

A bright white light flashed and burned everyone's eyes for a few seconds. I guess that's one cool thing about my transformations. They get to blind my enemies if they stare too much.

I reappeared as the Red Mega Man plus Model X. The design of the armor was identical to my old bulky Red Mega Man. The helmet felt a little different, but I wasn't sure why. Other than that, everything else was mostly the same.

"Well?" I spoke after a few moments.

"Amazing..." Ashe breathed.

"Very interesting," Aeolus added. "But you still look like the Red Mega Man to me."

I couldn't blame him for that. To be honest, I don't think Model X did anything to Model Z except for an armor redesign. Other than that, I didn't feel any different. I was still the same old me.

"It's all done!" Passy said suddenly, also appearing on my shoulder spontaneously.

I opened up the program in my Neuro Linker in excitement. If Passy fixed the Model W tracker, finding Serpent was only seconds away! I waited for the program to scan for the remaining Model Ws impatiently. If we didn't make it in time... I couldn't imagine the outcome. It'd be the opposite of the world Vent and Ciel were trying to make.

The map of Japan appeared with a green grid. A red line passed through the country and all of the red dots lit up in one cluster. The location was somewhere in the southeast corner of Japan, but whether or not it was underground was a mystery.

"Good job, Passy!" I said with a smile.

"What? What did you find out?" Prairie asked anxiously.

"The location of Serpent's hideout!"

"R-Really?! That's great! Show us where it is!"

Prairie pulled down a rather large board in front of us. Without the aid of the Neuro Linker, you wouldn't be able to tell what was on the board. But with it, you would see a map of Japan on the board. I walked towards it and circled the area where the Model Ws were clustered on my map.

"Here's the rough location. I think we should check if it's above ground first," I suggested.

"Good idea," Prairie nodded. "Operators! Move us to this location!"

"Yes ma'am!" they all cried at the same time.

The Grand Nuage turned around and flew towards the direction of the Model Ws. The only thing we could do now was wait and hope that we weren't too late. I was itching to go back into battle again. But was I in the condition to survive another encounter with Omega?

"Lan, I have to tell you something," Prairie whispered to me.

"Hmm? What is it?" I asked.

"I... I'm sorry, but I... I want you to stay on the airship."

"What?! Why?" Of course, I already knew the reason why.

"You're not in the condition to fight. Just rest easy and let the other Mega Men handle it, okay?"

I sighed and glanced at the other Mega Men who stood or sat in the command center. I didn't realize that there were so many of them. All of them were good fighters, since they've all been fighting in the Accelerated World. I didn't doubt their fighting abilities. I was afraid they weren't going to know what to do without a leader to lead them. I didn't feel like a leader, but I was the only person here qualified to fulfill that position.

"They need a leader," I answered after a moment's hesitation.

"The Blue King is here. He'll lead them just fine."

"But..."

"Lan, your safety comes first. Please!" she begged.

"...Fine."

I brushed past her and walked to the door to leave. I was frustrated and angry with Prairie. Why was I stuck in this airship while everyone else was risking their life? Why was I more important than everyone else? I was the same as them. I am a Burst Linker; I was made to fight.

* * *

The plan to rid the world of humans was about to start. All of the Model Ws were gathered in one central point in Japan and Serpent had captured more people to use. Prometheus and Pandora were nowhere to be found, but I didn't really care. As long as I got what I wanted, I was content with whatever happened. Nothing was going to stop me.

I sat on a throne with my head resting on my right hand. I had a bored expression on, mostly because we were still doing preparations. I longed to bathe in the blood of my enemies and to slice them to pieces. With the Red and Blue Heroes gone, who was there to stop me? Not even the little girl who I took over could stop me. She was just a vessel for me, the God of Destruction.

Serpent walked by in his transformed state and felt my face.

"I'm so glad to have you as my princess, Kuroyukihime," he said.

"I'm not your princess," I growled as I slapped his hand away. "Get away from me you arrogant fool."

"Ha ha ha! I'm no arrogant fool. I have all the power I need to change the world for the better!"

"And that's exactly what makes you arrogant."

"You'll never understand, my dear Kuroyukihime," he laughed as he walked towards the floating Model Ws. "These are the ingredients for changing the world! Dr. Ciel was unable to see that and tried to destroy them. But I'm smarter than her! I know how to control the power of Model W!"

"You're both fools," I murmured.

A Pseudoroid by the name of Fistleo suddenly dropped down to the floor huffing and puffing. I wondered what was up with him.

"The... The...!" he gasped.

"Calm down. What's up?" I said calmly.

"The Mega Men are coming!" he cried.

I felt my face break into an evil smile. This was what I was waiting for for so long. More people to kill. More people to hurt.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Yes! Definitely! I will go warn the other Pseudo-"

"No need. I will intercept them."

"Are you sure you can take them all? There are many more of them!"

"I'll be fine. Protect the Model Ws."

And with that, I left my seat and walked to the exit. If the Mega Men were coming, they would surely know where we were. All I had to do was wait for them. I could take them all, no matter how many they sent towards me. I'll kill all of them!

The underground base was located under a rather large facility that held the 'food' for Model W captive. Whenever the time came to feed the Model Ws, we would just break the ground and the people would fall. It was much easier than bringing every single human being down the elevator. There were simply too many to carry.

I ascended to the first floor of the facility and exited the elevator. I looked up through the glass ceiling and noticed a pink airship hover over the building. After a few moments of waiting, little figures in the sky appeared. They grew bigger and bigger until I noticed that they were Mega Men. I grinned and propelled myself as hard as I could through the glass ceiling, breaking through it.

I pulled out my Z-Saber and dashed up towards my first victim, which was a blue strange-looking Mega Man. I never remembered another blue Legendary Hero. Where did they get all of these other Mega Men?

I attempted to stab this Mega Man through their chest, but they were agile in the air and kicked me back down.

"Lan? Is that you?" the Mega Man asked in a female voice.

I didn't answer as I flew back down to the facility. However, I never made it because of a green pest. Aeolus flew past me and slashed me with both of his sonic blades, causing me to fall even faster. I broke through the ceiling and crashed into the ground. I was a little shaken up, but it wasn't anything too serious.

I shook my head and stood back up. I heard multiple people land on top of the building. It was much more than the remaining four Mega Men. I looked up and saw a total of twenty Mega Men. The sixteen that weren't part of the original four were weird-looking. They were a very colorful group of people, and they also looked like they've been in battle before. How is it that the Guardians were able to recruit more Mega Men?

All of them jumped down at the same time and surrounded me. Some of them had weapons, others did not. There was one that stuck out compared to the others, and that was a smaller and chubby boy in silver armor. How could he even fight? He was just a mere child.

"I thought Lan stayed behind," said a female Mega Man in red and blue armor.

"That's not Lan, that's..." Aeolus muttered.

"S...S-Saa-chan?" the blue Mega Man I tried to stab earlier said.

"Fuuko," I said under my breath. Wait, why did I say that? I had complete control of this body!

"Are you still in there? Snap out of it!"

I growled and punched the ground in frustration.

"Rekkoha!" I yelled.

"Everyone, move!" Atlas cried out.

Large pillars of light crashed through the ceiling of the building and struck the ground where everyone previously stood. The attack wasn't finished yet, though, and more pillars of light poured in. I didn't care about the humans that were being kept here. As long as I destroyed everything, nothing else mattered!

Fuuko came out of nowhere and kicked me in the face. I flew towards a pillar of light, but it disappeared right as I passed through it. I crashed into a wall, causing it to crumble on me. I roared and broke out. However, waves attacks were thrown at me. I was hit by a majority of them, but stopped the rest with Shin Messenkou. I broke through the pillars of light and slashed everyone with fury.

"She's tough!" Thetis cried.

"We outnumber her twenty to one! Let's use that to our advantage!" shouted another blue Mega Man. He was outfitted in a knight costume and looked like the leader of the group.

"Sogenmu!" I roared.

A flash of light blinded everyone for a second and a shadow of myself appeared. I dashed towards the closest foe and slashed them twice, then moved on to the next Mega Man. As I did that, my shadow followed me and replicated all of my attacks. I was moving as fast as I could to take everyone down, but I underestimated some of my opponents. They were competent fighters and has probably seen something similar to this move before.

The blue knight blocked my Z-Saber with his own sword and slashed my torso. As I was pushed back, my shadow replicated my previous attack and struck him in surprise. I grinned and was about to slice his head off, but was kicked into the ground from the back. I shakily turned my head and saw the chubby boy on top of me with wings sprouted on his back.

"Why you...!" I growled.

"We can subdue her! Everyone keep attacking!" he cried.

I shook off the silver bug and dodged the ice dragon that was flying towards me from Thetis. I was surrounded again by all twenty Mega Men. I wasn't going to go down that easily!

"Bakuenjin!" I shouted as I pounded the ground again.

A fiery explosion erupted in a giant ring around me, causing the entire building to rumble. My opponents didn't expect to see an explosive technique from me and were all hit by it. I smiled in satisfaction as everyone flew away. I didn't stop there and dashed to my next victim, which was the blue Mega Man I knew as Fuuko for some reason. I grabbed her by the neck and was about to stab her, but she stopped me with her voice.

"St...Stop, Saa-chan..." she gasped.

"I'm... I'm going to kill you!" I growled.

"I know... you're still... in... somewhere..."

I thrusted my Z-Saber into her, but was stopped suddenly by a blast of electricity. I turned my head and saw that Aeolus had tapped into his O.I.S and stabbed my back.

"Gah! Get off of me... You pest!" I shouted as I shook off the paralysis and slashing Aeolus away.

I could barely feel the wound in my back because I had trained this body to be immune to pain. If this body dies, I wouldn't care. As long as Model W survived, I would always come back.

I felt a kick in the back from Fuuko and I flew back into the middle of the group of Mega Men. They threw all of their attacks at me. I felt shocked, cold, hot, and a small amount of pain at the same time.

"You think... That's enough to take me out?!" I roared, standing up through all of the attacks.

"She's really tough!"

I activated the O.I.S and executed a special attack that had a large radius.

"Hyouryuushou!" I yelled.

I performed a freezing spinning slash that reached to the end of the room. It hurt mostly everyone that wasn't immune to the ice element, so Thetis and Atlas remained standing, most unaffected by the attack. But I was prepared for that. I dashed towards Atlas while still in the air and used Raikousen. I disappeared and reappeared behind her, leaving a trail of lightning behind me.

"Ahhhhh!" she cried in pain.

"Don't think I've forgotten about you," I said as I glared at Thetis.

He was about to execute a special attack, but I was much faster. I dashed towards him and used Shoeunga, a burning rising slash. Thetis flew up into the air and I used the Double Shot Wave to send him higher up. He fell down with a loud thump and didn't move.

"None of you can defeat me!" I laughed.

The rest of my enemies were encased in a thick ice, meaning I could kill all of them in one swift blow if I wanted to. The thought of that thrilled me and I walked back to Fuuko. She was going to be the first person I was going to kill.

"Kuroyukihime is no longer here," I said to the frozen Fuuko. "I am Omega, the God of Destruction!"

The sound of glass breaking stopped me from attacking Fuuko. I turned around to find another Mega Man, except that this one looked a lot like the late Red Hero. He or she stood up and glared at me with green eyes. It couldn't be...

"Who are you?" I asked. "You look like the Red Hero."

The Mega Man smiled and said in his voice, "I'm... The Ultimate Mega Man!"


	17. Chapter 16 - Invasion Pt 2

"The Ultimate Mega Man? Did I hear that right?" Kuroyukihime laughed. "What makes you so great and all-powerful?"

To be honest, it's the name Mega Man Model ZX goes by according to Passy. Should one of the two Heroes die, the other was able to R.O.C.K. ON with his Biometal. It wasn't because Zero had a close connection to X or vice-versa. It was because Model X and Model Z had two Biomatches.

"I'm not exactly sure, but I think I'll find out soon enough!" I said confidently.

"Do you seriously believe you can take me on when twenty other Mega Men have failed?"

"We're not that stupid," I said with a sly smile.

"What do you mean…?"

"Good job, Siarnaq! You did well," I called out to the Shadow Mega Man who was struggling to get up.

Over half of the Mega Men that had apparently fought Omega disappeared in a puff of smoke. Omega looked around wildly, unable to believe what he had seen.

"What did you do?!" she shouted in anger.

"I'm not exactly sure myself, but I think Siarnaq duplicated himself and changed the look of those clones to look like the other Mega Men," I answered while scratching the side of my face.

Of course, the Guardians weren't dumb enough to send _all _of their best soldiers to the front lines. So we only sent the original Mega Men down to dispatch Omega. The others were waiting in the Grand Nuage, hoping to intercept anything that would start off Serpent's plan to destroy the world.

"It was… a good plan," Atlas gasped as she shakily recovered from the electric shock from before.

Indeed it was. I wouldn't know what to do with myself if every Mega Man had lost their life in one battle against Omega. She had half the power of Model Z still, and could tap into the power of the O.I.S. I didn't want to do anything stupid or hasty.

However, a person was standing behind Kuroyukihime that wasn't supposed to be here. It was Fuuko! Why was she down here? I didn't remember seeing her jump off the airship…

"Fuuko, what are you doing here?" I asked, concerned.

"I thought I could free her… from her curse," she answered while rubbing her neck.

"It's too late! She's long gone!" Kuroyukihime cried.

"You don't understand, Omega. You're in control of a _human _right now. It's not the Accelerated World, where you could go for as long as you want without getting tired," I said. "You've been transformed for a long time, no doubt. You've also been through a lot of fights, especially a serious one with me. It won't be long before that body can't take anymore and just shut down."

Kuroyukihime stared at me with a blank stare for a few moments to take in what I just said. Then the realization suddenly hit her.

"Wh...What are you trying to say? I have complete control over this body! It's not possible for it to tire out!"

"Is that so? Let's put that to the test, then."

I pulled out my new weapon, the ZX-Saber. This weapon was quite useful, since it can transform into the ZX-Buster in less than a second. The only drawback was that its blade was a bit shorter compared to the Z-Saber.

I dashed towards Omega with blinding speed. I was the same as her now. I wasn't just using half a Biometal anymore. I was using one and a half, just like her! But I had the advantage this time, because I haven't been transformed for days.

I executed an overhead slash to knock her into the ground, but she blocked it with her pink Z-Saber. She underestimated my strength and was pushed into the ground. She gritted her teeth and tried to get up, but I exerted more force into my blade.

"You guys! Go down and stop Serpent! I'll deal with Omega for now!" I called out to the other Mega Men, who were now all out of their frozen prisons.

"Okay! Let's go, everyone!" Ashe said.

"Gah... Why you...!" Omega grunted.

Then as everyone started to descend, Omega did something strange. She punched the ground with all of her might, causing it to collapse. Despite using Kuroyukihime's body for days without rest, Omega was still able to do extraordinary things. However, I knew in the back of my mind that Kuroyukihime's human body wasn't going to last much longer.

The eight Mega Men that was on the floor fell into the giant hold that Omega created. Not only did we fall, but there were capsules that contained unknown objects that feel as well. I air-dashed towards Omega to attack her in mid-air, but she knew I was coming and air-dashed away. I chased for a few moments before flying into a capsule. Whether or not it was good, I didn't damage it. I peered inside and noticed a red-haired girl floating in there with her eyes closed. Was she dead? Or was she asleep? Either way, I had to get her out of there.

I punched it as hard as I could with my left hand and broke through the glass. However, I couldn't save the girl because we finally made it to the bottom of the base. The capsule landed with a loud thud and the glass broke into a million pieces. Thankfully, none of them flew into the capsule. I was about to retrieve the girl until more capsules and Mega Men crashed into the ground. The sound of glass shattering resonated throughout the entire room. In each capsule was a single human being, unconsciousness and in the same comatose state as the girl in front of me.

"Hey!" I called out to her while shaking her violently. "Wake up!"

To my relief, her eyes slowly blinked open. Like her hair, her eyes were a blazing red. She wasn't wearing any clothes, but I don't think that was important. The only thing that mattered was keeping these people alive and getting them out of here. What was Serpent planning on doing with all of these humans? And how many has he kidnapped?

"Who... Who are you?" she asked weakly. "You look... ridiculous."

"I'm the Red Hero. That's all you need to know."

Then her eyes suddenly widened and focused on my face. She reached out to touch my face with her fingertips. At least, I thought she was going to touch my face. Instead, her hand closed into a fist and punched me in the jaw. For a small girl, it was quite a powerful punch. It didn't hurt me too much, but it did surprise me!

"Wh-What was that for?!" I yelled at her.

"I've always... wanted to fight you... Red Hero," she coughed. She cleared her throat and spoke in a clear voice, "I wanted to see who would win: The red duel avatar who was the master of close quarters combat or the red avatar who was the master of long range combat!"

"Master... of long range?" I whispered. It couldn't be...

"Yes, that's right! I'm the Red King, Scarlet Rain!"

"I'm sorry to interrupt this, but we have business to attend to," Omega said from behind me.

I reflexively moved to the left and saw a pink Z-Saber whiz past my face. It stabbed the ground next to the Red King's left leg. I didn't waste any time and kicked Omega in the face. I recovered quickly and pulled out my ZX-Saber to dish out some damage while she was down. But as I was about to attack her, something that had the force of a freight train hit me. I was sent flying backwards and crashed into a capsule, shattering it in the process.

"What... What the hell... Was that?" I said weakly as I tried to get back up.

The thing that had hit me was standing in black and white armor. It was Serpent, transformed with the power of Model W. He had disgusting orange colored horns that sprouted all over his body. They resembled Dr. Weil somehow, but I couldn't remember how. Ever since the Ragnarok incident became history, I wanted to forget Dr. Weil and all of the things he did. I forgot his appearance, but I could never forget his mad plan to destroy the world.

"Are you alright, Kuroyukihime?" he asked Omega gently.

"That's my line, you asshole!" I yelled angrily at him.

"No need to get mad, Red Mega Man. Kuroyukihime chose this path. She's not coming back to you."

Every part of my body was filled with hatred. I gripped onto my ZX-Saber and got back up. I walked slowly towards Serpent, who stared at me with a mad look in his eyes.

I hated him so much.

He was probably the one that killed Ciel. He took Prairie's sister away from her, as well as my friend. Not only that, but he took Kuroyukihime away from me and turned her into Omega. He took all of these people away from their friends and family, causing them to worry and grieve. Most of the families who had lost their child, mother, or father probably thought that they were dead by now.

What kind of world was he trying to create? You can't create something by taking away everything!

_"Serpent!" _I roared at the top of my lungs.

I ran towards him with all I had. I was going to end everything here and now. Serpent was going to die by my hands! I've already killed a human being-

No.

I've killed monsters. As I recalled from last year, I told Dr. Weil that he was a monster, not a human being. Serpent was the same. He wasn't human. He was a monster that took humans away from other humans.

I swung my ZX-Saber down with all my might at Serpent's exposed body. But as I was half-way to Serpent's neck, a burst of burning pain exploded in my chest. Was Zero acting up again? Or was it something else entirely?

"Ghaaaa!" I screamed in agony.

I stopped in my tracks and held my chest as tight as I could with my left hand. To my horror, a dark-red orb of light slowly and painfully escaped from my chest. I fell to my knees because the pain was too much to bear.

The dark-red orb finally left my chest and once it did, I transformed back to my normal self. I crumpled to the ground, weak with fatigue. I lifted my head a tiny bit to see what was happening in front of me. Serpent was staring at the dark-red orb with hungry eyes. As I scanned around the room weakly, I noticed that there were other orbs floating, but they weren't dark-red like mine. On the contrary, they were bright and white. Why was mine dark-red?

"Model W will now feed on the souls of those humans that were brought here. And as dessert, it will take your hatred away from you!" Serpent laughed evilly.

"My... hatred?" I gasped out.

"You hate me for everything I've taken away from you! Because of your self-righteous mind, you hate me for everything else that I've done! Every part of your body itched to kill me. That is the kind of feeling your dear Kuroyukihime felt. And look at what happened to her!"

"N...No... You're... You're lying!"

"Farewell, Red Mega Man. This new world that I'm going to create does not have you alive in it!"

A blue figure zoomed by and kicked Serpent directly in the face, knocking him backwards. It was Fuuko, still transformed and showing no signs of weakness. She turned to Omega and kicked her away as well, in the opposite direction of Serpent. Then she knelt down next to me and helped me up.

"Are you all right Lan?" she asked.

"N-Not really, no," I answered weakly.

"Can you move?"

"It's... difficult."

"Stand and fight, Hero."

I really want to, Fuuko, I said with my eyes. I really wanted to stand and fight, but I was too weak. I was always weak because I depended on the power of others.

One year ago, I relied on the power of the Red Hero, Zero, to defeat all of my opponents. Especially Omega and his ridiculously powerful forms. I also used his power in the real world to defeat Dr. Weil. I didn't do anything by myself. It was all done with the help of Zero.

Now, I couldn't do anything without the help of a Biometal. Without the Biometal, I was just a weak human being who could do nothing like every other person on the planet. What made me different from any other person? Why did Ciel choose me?

"Because she knew you had what it took to be a Hero," Passy said gently. "She chose you and Vent because you two were almost the same. You both wanted to protect as many people as you could. You both wanted to save the world."

_How are we different?_

"Vent didn't rely on many people. He did things alone and was rash. You, on the other hand, worked with people. You always wanted to do things together, even though you wanted to be the star player. Depending on others is not a sign of weakness, Red Hero."

"Ciel..." I gasped.

"What? Did you say something?" Fuuko asked in a hushed voice.

"Thank you."

"Huh?"

I grabbed my Biometals and attempted to R.O.C.K. ON again, despite the circumstances. I was really drained, but there was no other choice. If we didn't win, the entire world would be destroyed. If we won, the world would be saved. If we didn't fight, we couldn't win.

"I will... fight!" I roared with new energy. I was not brimming with hate like I was moments ago. It was a different kind of energy.

"Double R.O.C.K. ON!"

I transformed into the Ultimate Mega Man once more. I moved my legs despite them telling me that they were not going to work. I stumbled over a few times, but Fuuko helped me back up.

"Where are... the others?" I asked.

"Right behind you," answered a voice that belonged to Ashe.

I looked behind me and saw the group of Mega Men alive and well. None of them seemed too hurt, and orbs of light didn't burst out of their chests.

"Follow the lights!" Atlas commanded.

"You guys can go..." I said weakly. "I'll deal with those two."

"Are you sure? You don't look too well," Aeolus observed.

"I'll be fine. Go! Stop the Model Ws!"

The team exchanged glances and then hesitantly moved forward. I faced away from them and turned my attention to Serpent, who was running towards me. I dodged his tackle and shot his back with my ZX-Buster.

"You think you can defeat me, Red Mega Man?" he cried.

I didn't answer and continued to shoot. Serpent moved from left to right quickly to dodge the yellow energy shots that flew towards him. He was much faster than I expected him to be, but he wasn't as fast as Aeolus.

He threw a punch at me, but I accelerated and dodged the blow. I switched to my ZX-Saber and slashed his torso rapidly. Serpent moved backwards and jumped high into the air. I expected him to perform an air kick like what Silver Crow would do, but instead, he revealed an arm cannon and fired a series of shots that shaped itself to the letter "W".

As the shot got closer, the gap between each energy pellet widened, making it easier to dodge. I dashed to the right to dodge the shot anyhow, since going through a gap was too risky. I aimed my ZX-Buster at Serpent, but he was nowhere to be found. Wasn't he just in the air a second ago?

_Above you! _Zero's voice cried.

I looked directly up and Serpent reappeared right as I set my eyes on the light above. He came down with his foot outstretched with a pink spiral aura around it. He came down too fast for me to do anything, so I did my best to block the attack with my ZX-Saber.

The impact was a powerful one, so strong that it pushed me a few meters into the ground. I was stunned for a few moments and unfortunately, it was enough time for Serpent to recover and punch me across the room. I flew into a broken capsule, the one where the Red King rested. I turned my head and saw that she was still there.

"Are you going to keep on fighting, Red Hero?" she asked with a serious expression.

"Why... haven't you turned into... one of those orbs?" I coughed out.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You don't see them? They're right above us," I said as I pointed to a moving orb of light.

"Are you insane? Is that why you're wearing that outfit?"

"Forget about it. I have to-"

I was interrupted by Serpent grabbing a hold of my neck with his large right hand. My airways were now clogged and Serpent was crushing my neck. If I didn't do something fast, I'd lose here!

I raised my right arm, which had the ZX-Saber still equipped to it, and brought it down on Serpent's arm. Until now, I was always careful of where I slashed because I didn't want to hurt any other Mega Man. But I considered Serpent to be something else now. His life didn't matter to me.

"Gyaaaa!" he screamed in pain.

My vision grew fuzzy as I dashed forward to thrust my ZX-Saber into his chest. Serpent screamed again, indicating that he wasn't going to die from this one blow, so I pulled the ZX-Saber out and stabbed his body again, but in a different place this time.

Serpent responded that time with a fierce uppercut with his foot. He hit me directly in the chest and I flew upwards with my ZX-Saber still in hand. Although I was overextending my body's limits, I kept going. There was no time to waste.

I switched to my ZX-Buster and shot a Charged Shot at Serpent. He saw it coming and shot a Charged Shot of his own, which was a gigantic purple sphere of energy. Was my Charged Shot going to be enough to defeat that? I didn't wait for an answer and just charged down, using Sentsuizan. The Charged Shot that came from me flew into the green sphere, causing it to change its color to green and reverse its direction.

I crashed down on Serpent right as the sphere hit him, causing a rather large explosion to occur. I felt the intense heat all over my body and the pain that immediately followed afterwards. However, I wanted to make sure that Serpent was dead.

After the smoke cleared, I remained standing while Serpent was on the ground, not breathing or moving. I tapped him a few times with my foot to make sure he didn't give a response. After a few moments of tapping, I finally realized that he was now dead.

"It's... all over... now," I said weakly while slumping to the ground.

But Omega was still here.

Speaking of Omega, why didn't she come to stop me from killing Serpent? A two on one situation would have been hard to deal with and they would have won easily. But Omega was nowhere to be found. What happened?

I forced myself back up and tried to locate the location of where Omega was. Then I noticed her fighting Fuuko. How come I never noticed this? My mind was too focused on Serpent, probably. Wasn't Fuuko right next to me just a few minutes ago?

I shook my head to clear it and dashed towards the two Mega Men fighting with all they had. I was sure that Fuuko wasn't a match for Omega, but because Kuroyukihime's body was wearing out, Omega was slowing down.

"Passy, how do I cancel a Mega Man's transformation?" I asked the petite figure on my shoulder.

"There's two ways, but I'm sure you only want the one that doesn't kill her," Passy answered. "The other way is to have a Biometal forcibly cancel it. Since she's transformed with both Model O and Model Z, you're going to have to somehow get her Model Z to cancel the transformation."

"Why didn't it do that when she R.O.C.K.'d ON with Model O?"

"Probably because Model O was too powerful. But it should be pretty weak now, considering the fact that it's slowing down against Fuuko."

_Model Z, _I said in my mind, _please cancel the transformation with Kuroyukihime! _

_Her body is beyond fatigue. Should I cancel the transformation, there's a chance that she may die in the process, _it replied.

_Do it! Please!_

_As you wish._

_"Ahhh!" _Kuroyukihime suddenly screamed. She froze in place and began to glow brightly.

"What's going on?" Fuuko asked, alarmed.

"She's reverting back to normal! Get away from her!" I said.

Fuuko jumped back and watched Kuroyukihime with me.

After a few moments, Kuroyukihime returned to her normal human form and collapsed to the ground. What remained in the air was the other half of Model Z and a Biometal shaped like an upside-down horseshoe. That was the symbol for "Omega" in Greek.

I dashed over to the Biometals and picked up Model Z. It glowed brightly and opened a hole of light in my chest. It inserted itself into my chest and was reunited with its other half. What I was going to do with the other Biometal, I didn't know.

"What am I going to do with you, Omega?" I asked softly. "You're nothing but a Biometal without a human to R.O.C.K. ON with."

"I'll kill you one day, Red Hero," it said as it floated away.

I let it go because it was useless in the hands of anyone who wasn't Kuroyukihime or me. After all, we were its only Biomatch, right? There wasn't another person out there who knew how to R.O.C.K. ON.

"Let's go home, Kuroyukihime," I whispered while picking up Kuroyukihime.

But I had forgotten that I was feeling really weak and almost immediately dropped her. Fuuko stepped in and caught Kuroyukihime before she could fall back to the ground. I nodded as thanks and we followed the remaining orbs of lights to the others, who were hopefully done by now.

We walked for what seemed like ages. We finally found ourselves in front of a sealed room, but the orbs of light passed right through the door. There wasn't a switch to open it, so I just sliced it open. What lay in front of us surprised me.

The others were nowhere in sight, as well as every Model W, except for one rather large one. The orbs of light floated towards a purple spherical crystal at the center of the Model W. When they reached that point, they disappeared into the Model W forever.

"What happened? Where are all the Model Ws?" I asked, leaning on the door frame for support.

"The Mega Men did a good job of destroying the Model Ws," said a familiar voice.

Fuuko and I glanced in the direction of the voice and saw Prometheus walking towards us. He held his scythe up high, which was stained with blood. Did Prometheus defeat all of the Mega Men that were here? But how? Surely the others were unbeatable when together!

"Did you... kill them all?" I asked weakly.

"Hmm? Yes, of course I did! Oh boy, it was so fun!" he laughed.

"Why you...!" I took a few steps forward, but was stopped by the Model W making a resonating sound.

"Ahh. It's ready. Well then, I'll see you later, Red Hero."

Prometheus's hair glowed yellow and then he began to float up into the air. He zipped away and disappeared out of sight. What exactly did he plan on doing?

"What did he mean by... ready?" Fuuko asked.

"Gyahahahahaha!" a voice laughed.

"That voice...!" I exclaimed. "Serpent?! I made sure you were dead just a few moments ago!"

I looked around the large room wildly but couldn't find him anywhere. His hysterical laughter echoed throughout the entire room, making me go crazier as the seconds passed.

And then I saw Serpent float down onto the Model W. His ruined body was convulsing, which looked quite disgusting. He stared at the Model W with mad, hungry eyes and prepared to do something with it...

"Lan! He's going to use that Model W to R.O.C.K. ON! Stop him!" Passy cried.

"Eh?!"

I dashed forward as quickly as I could, but the Model W was too far away. I pulled out the ZX-Buster and shot a few shots at Serpent. All of my efforts were in vain since Serpent already started the transformation process.

Was the world going to end today?


End file.
